The Four Personalities of France- Part 2: Cotes Du Rhone

The Cotes Du Rhone- not to be confused with the South African Wine, The Goats do Roam! The primary grapes used in Cotes Du Rhone (if you remember my uber blog on Australia) are Syrah, Carignan, Mouvoudre, and several other grape varieties. Interesting fact about the Cotes Du Rhone- back in the 18th century or so the king from that region insisted that wines from that region be labelled CDR in order to guarantee that those wines were from that region and therefore of high quality... and that's were the French Appellation Controllee system originated from! Wines from this region are generally quite full-bodied, but with silky smooth tannins- which makes them very drinkable! Hmmm a mix of brawn and smoothness.... its got to be James Bond! And its Sean Connery bond- not Roger Moore, or Pierce Brosnan, and definitely not Daniel Craig! Not that I have any problems with the other Bonds- its just Sean Connery was the man!

Now I'm not Suggesting James Bond drank anything but vodka martini's... but if he was to drink something else- when then it would have to be a Cotes Du Rhone, and not just any CDR but the big dog of all the CDR... that's right- he'd be drinking the Chateaeu Neuf Du Pape... neither shakin nor stirred!It translates as the Popes new house- comes from when there was popes ruling in Avignon... Out of all the regions in France Chateau Neuf Du Pape is probably one of the more interesting. They allow roughly 18 grape varieties to be put into wine- and there is no regulations about which grape varieties belong in a particular blend. Red varieties allowed are Cinsaut, Counoise, Grenache Noir, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Piquepoul Noir, Syrah, Terret Noir, and Vaccarèse (Brun Argenté). White and pink varieties are Bourboulenc, Clairette Blanche, Clairette Rose, Grenache Blanc, Grenache Gris, Picardan, Piquepoul Blanc, Piquepoul Gris, and Roussanne. But there is only one vineyard that grows all of these grapes and utilizes them regularly- Chateau De Beaucastel. So how exactly are they like Sean Connery/James Bond? Well when they're young they are generally tough and tannic... but as they age they smooth out- but keep their spicy edge!