2010 Cotes du Rhone Domaine de la Vieille Fontaine

Another winner from Vidal Fleury is the 2010 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Domaine de la Vieille Fontaine. Made from old Grenache (85%) and Carignan, it exhibits a blue/purple color, a deep, rich personality and lots of sweet black currant and blueberry fruit intermixed with roasted herb, meat and spice notes. As I wrote last year, the Vidal Fleury enterprise, which is in large part a negociant business owned by the Guigal family and run with considerable precision by Guy Sarton-de-Joncquey, seems to be going from strength to strength with a bevy of wines offering some of the most reasonable prices of any Rhone Valley negociant. Both Guigal and Vidal Fleury consistently produce excellent rose wines. Last year, the 2010 GSM, a Southern Rhone cuvee that is bottled early to preserve its freshness and fruit, was introduced. Vidal Fleury has also done exceptionally well with their selections from Vacqueyras. Cote Rotie has always been one of Vidal Fleury’s specialties and they have done exceptionally well in 2010 and 2011 with the Cote Rotie Brune et Blonde as well as the limited production, single vineyard offering, La Chatillonne. Importer: William Deutsch and Sons, White Plains, NY; tel. (914) 251-WINE