Last fall we went to Provence for our honeymoon. It charmed our socks off.
One of the highlights of our trip was visiting a tiny wine shop and bar, Caveau de la Tour de l'Isle, in the picturesque L'Isle sur la Sorgue. The proprietor of the shop, Stéphane Fina, is an excellent sommelier and cheesemonger. Wines by the glass are appropriately priced with no mark-up; a glass will typically run about one-fifth the price of a bottle. The city itself is gorgeous, with several canals that allow the River Sorgue to pass through it.
We enjoyed many glasses of André Chemin Champagne, a producer that he represents. Another producer represented by Stephané is Tour de l'Isle, and we were fortunate enough to walk away with a bottle of their 2007 Gigondas, which we uncorked recently.
The aroma was quite pronounced, with clove, blackcurrant, red & black cherry and brambly fruit bursting through, balanced by an earthiness and touch of oak that rounded everything out. On the palate, the texture was silky smooth with a nice glycerine level and full mouthfeel. The finish was slightly spicy and had a very good long length. Alcohol level was quite high, but in balance with the fruit and tannins to make it not noticeable. I left half the bottle in the fridge overnight to see how it might age in a couple years, and it was equally enjoyable yet different. This time around the palate was much darker and spicier, with tons of chocolate, damson fruit, a lot more tannin and baking spices on the nose.
The Châteauneuf-du-Pape region is the star of the Southern Rhône Valley, but I must say our visit there did not prove as enjoyable as we had expected. It has much more of a tourist draw than the other regions, and the attitudes of the people there reflect it. Understandably so. We walked into a cellar for a tasting and had to leave in the middle because the customers next to us were so pompous and obnoxious I wanted to spit out more than just the wine into the bucket.
Luckily, Gigondas is just thirty minutes away and exceedingly more attractive in appearance and personality. Here are some images from our visit.
