2007 Domaine Les Aphillanthes Vieille Vignes

If you haven't been following the wine news lately, you should do yourself a favour and read up on the 2007 Rhône vintage - one of the great high points of 2007 in the northern hemisphere. The wines are currently rolling into markets worldwide. Now is the time to stock up on some extraordinary values. If you enjoy Rhône reds pay particular attention to the 2007 wines that come in bearing the 'Côtes du Rhône-Villages' appellation (a step up from basic Côtes du Rhône). Village after village has managed more consistent and more powerful wines than any vintage in recent memory. The Shiraz and/or Grenache based blends are offering wine lovers a rare combination of exuberant ripe fruit, high natural alcohol, good balancing acidity, intensity of flavour and wonderfully soft-textured tannins. (Comparisons to South Australian wines of similar ilk are not far from the mark).

Robert Parker, pioneer of the most influential numerical wine-rating system currently in use describes this as the 'vintage of his lifetime' and has already awarded 100 points to an unprecedented 10 different '07 Rhône releases and upgraded many others to 96+. You might respond to such scores with visceral awe or just plain cynicism. Like it or not, numerical ratings for wines are so firmly entrenched in wine markets around the world that they're now demanded by consumers everywhere wanting to reduce their risk of purchase. There's cause for reflection as to the wider impact that the popularization of such rating systems have had on international markets, wine prices and styles. One positive contribution has been to jettison the elitist jargon of times past and destroy the 'feudal system' which continually rewarded only those vineyards on the most prestigious sites - both factors that too easily veil quality from the consumer. In this respect, Parker as pioneer and consummate consumer advocate earns his legitimacy "...at least in part by being an unimpeachable champion of the proletariat drinker, a poor pleb who knows himself too often beaten into submission by the grand tradition and price of wine, but who is also keenly aware of his own limitations in that vast world". Consequently, "Parker's wine credentials turn out to be no less moral than oenological". Small and large vineyards around the world now occupy a meritocracy where equal opportunities for high ratings exist, so encouraging indifferent winemakers to innovate and improve overall quality. This is certainly the case with regard to the three Rhône wines featured below. The common driving force behind each is Rhône consultant, Phillippe Cambie, whose huge physical proportions are matched by his obsession for ripe fruit and an uncanny ability on the blending table, backed up by a track record for re-invigorating estates stagnating in tradition. As usual, the ratings below are our own, though where possible we've included extra reviews from Robert Parker. You'll notice our scores consistently come in marginally higher than Parker's. This is partly because the Winespider evaluation method we use places greater emphasis on a wine's colour, particularly for young reds. No wholesaler margins apply here. One shipment only of these wines is available. We encourage you to jump at the opportunity. Critics and importers who can afford to tour European wine regions on a regular basis are fortunate, but increasing costs and limited resources usually make such adventures unviable for southern hemisphere retailers. Travel expenses have to be factored into any ensuing shipment, meaning the consumer ultimately pays more. To maximise value for money, we choose to call for samples to be sent to us and deal directly with the vignerons. Produced from a blend of 95% Grenache with the balance Syrah & Mourvedre. Domaine Les Aphillanthes was for many years a supplier of fruit to the local co-operative, it wasn’t until the late 1990’s that the Estate decided to begin producing its own label achieving almost instant success. Parker compares the quality of some of this estate's wines to the finest of Chateauneuf du Pape. This Domaine has employed the services of famed Rhone oenologist, Philippe Cambie as consultant. An outstanding example. Opaque dark red crimson colour with deep crimson mauve hue. Perfumed aromas of ripe blackberry, liquorice and spice with some meaty end notes. Medium to full bodied with plenty of ripe fruit the wine delivers flavours of very ripe raspberry, blackberry and liquorice allsorts followed by blackpepper, spice and leather on the back palate. Superb concentration and length. Dry, fine grained but firm tannins, which are almost leather like in their mouthfeel, providing the wine with excellent structure. Very long aftertaste of liquorice allsorts, ripe dark plum, blackpepper and leather.
Cellar 5-8 years. (2015-2018)
14.5% Alc