Oh my Grenache!

Posted 02/01/2008 at 10:35 AM by Carolyn

Last night, my roommate decided to run by the wine store on her way home for a little Sunday night vino. Picking out a bottle of Cotes du Rhone, JPee was suddenly seized by a bout of digestive distress, and grabbed the first two bottles that she saw. When she arrived home, she literally dropped her purchases on the carpet and went running for the restroom. I was left to inspect her purchases.

She had come home with two Grenache blends. One was a rather intriguing 2005 Costieres de Nimes with trees on the label—The Tree Wine, as JPee called it. The other was rather more familiar. It was the same Chicken Wine that I tried at the beginning of June! A mix of Grenache, Syrah, and a couple of other minor blending grapes, I had previously called it “. . . tasty and easy to drink.” I enjoyed it with M&M’s. Sweet.

We cracked open The Tree Wine and gave it a taste. It was full of red fruit flavors, but round and well-balanced. JPee found it “tangy.” I’m not sure what she meant by that, but she stands by it. We were having curried chicken for dinner, and Cote du Rhone decidedly does not pair well with that. We enjoyed it nevertheless.

“Let’s try to drink the whole bottle!” JPee said mischievously. Now, JPee is a rather petite Korean girl whose tolerance is quite low. But, she had finished a bottle a few nights earlier with our more robust friend MJay, so she was feeling confident. I said I would give it a try.

After a couple of glasses of wine and a couple episodes of “Hell’s Kitchen,” JPee and I were both pretty giggly. We decided not to overdo it, leaving about one glass of The Tree Wine for us to split the next day.

And that day was today. MJay came over to make dinner, and we finished off that Tree Wine first thing. Next up was good ole Chicken Wine. Neither of the ladies had tried this wine before, so it was cool to get a fresh perspective on it. Compared to The Tree Wine, The Chicken Wine was quite subdued. More earth and black fruit flavors, and a little mineral flavor, too.

“Hmm. Earth,” JPee said. “I don’t like earth.”

“Earth doesn’t like you, either.” That’s puttin’ her in her place, MJay.

JPee and I subscribe to a Community Supported Agriculture group that delivers us exquisite whole chickens each month. JPee has become a master at taking the birds apart, and does so without complaint. What a champ. Anyway, something in The Chicken Wine made JPee think of chicken. “What is that flavor in the end? It’s something that I smell when I butcher chicken.”

Umm . . . What aroma could there be when butchering chicken that would show up in a Cote du Rhone? Mineral? Blood? I still can’t really figure it out. At this point, JPee has had enough wine that she just keeps saying “I don’t like earth” and trying to remember as many Harry Potter spells as she can.

Oh yes. We are in that most rare, joyous season of Harry Potter mania. I am by no means immune to these feelings, and fortunately I live with a girl who feels the same. I’m sure that I will very soon have a lot to say about that, so please excuse my Potter madness. You’ve been warned.

But, back to Grenache. We had a nice little tasting and dinner, and we even cracked open my old wine textbook to learn a little something about the Cote du Rhone. For example, the pitfall of a Grenache is its tendency to oxidize quickly and therefore take on a slightly brown color. Of course, this weakness is also one of its strengths. Because of its strong tendency to oxidize, Grenache is softer and more enjoyable when it’s young. I don’t know exactly why or how, but that’s what the book says. How about that!

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