13 Wines / 13 Generally Not A Lucky Number / 13 French Rhone Les Vins De Vienne : Cuilleron, Villard Et Gaillard = MY LUCKY NUMBERS! Stunning Diversity In FAB Rhone Wines!

This was quite the fabulous and totally unexpected treat for Michel Dumas and me the other afternoon. Our local rep Internationa Cellars called Michel and said that he had something really special and really worth our time to taste and possibly buy for the store. He relayed the message and said that the two of them ( one of the Frenchmen involved in making these wines, turns out his father had owned a small vineyard that he later took over ) might come by in the afternoon and taste with us. I immediately had the thought put out of my head with others constantly knocking and bidding for an audience with me. I was jolted back to this possibility a couple of hours later when the two, indeed, did stop by. What followed over the next hour was perhaps one of the finest win-tastings that I have had in years! Spectacular, stunning , sensational, well-balanced, distinct, fairly forward and approachable, drinkable, flavorful, filled with their own characters and personalities reds and whites from Condrieu to Cornas and the southern Rhone, too with some excellent red and white Cotes-Du-Rhone. In essence the whole of the Cotes-Du-Rhone from north to south, from exciting village to exciting village! ... ... ... ... Yes, there were 13 wines and yes they were indeed thirteen lucky numbers for both Michel and me. We tasted all thirteen and have bought eleven out of the thirteen I believe to sell at the store. The only two that we did not buy I believe are the simple rd and the simple white Cotes-Du-Rhone that we liked but felt that did not reflect as much personal and distinct character and personality as the others. ... ... I have my notes at the store and will retrieve them when I get there and add them here for a better picture of what we tasted and fell head-over-heels for : a white still Saint Peray, a red Saint Joseph and a red Cote Rotie and the Condrieu white and the Cornas red already mentioned. I will write more about all of this very soon so please stay tuned. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn .... ... ... ... ... These are two of my watercolors that I added here until I get time to download the pictures I took at this in-store private wine-tasting for the two of us with the two of them at Cleveland Park Wines & Spirits, 3423 Connecticut Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20008, Tel : 202-363-4265 anthony.quinn@clevelandparkwines.com. Cheers, TONY Merci pour cette degustation magnifique, vraiment incroyable!