Côtes du Rhône Domaine Saint Pierre 2007
Thank you everyone! This Anniversary Sale has been “festive,” but I’m ready for Saturday, when we’ll be closed all day to honor our “grand patron” Thomas Jefferson, the first great American admirer of fine French wine, and the author of our Declaration of Independence. I’m grilling hanger steaks marinated in fresh lime juice and Viêt Hùong fish sauce from Mark Bittman’s  How to Cook Everything.  

And this is what I’ll be drinking on my day off: another brilliant ripe nectar from the 2007 vintage in the southern Rhône. It’s been on the tasting table all week, and even if the novelty of Hervé Fabre’s Mendoza Malbec overshadowed it this past weekend, this is the wine that Sue wants to have on the Fourth of July.

All of us who have visited the cellars of the best southern Rhône producers – and tasted through their 2007s – have come away with these observations:

1. The top wines are fabulously rich and loaded with fruit, but they have underlying structure that will carry them through a decade or two (if you can wait that long.)
2. The “little” wines, like this succulent mouthful of exotic dark red-fruit, include some of the greatest red wine values we have ever seen.
3. This is greatest southern Rhône vintage of my lifetime.

Domaine St. Pierre Côtes-du-Rhône in New York
Domaine St. Pierre Côtes-du-Rhône in New Jersey
Domaine St. Pierre Côtes-du-Rhône in Delaware

Domaine Saint Pierre:
The first estate-bottled wines at Domaine Saint Pierre in Vacqueyras near Châteauneuf du Pape were made by Jean-Claude Fauque in 1972. Today, his son Jean-François manages the estate, with viticulture in the hands of his younger brother Philippe. Viticulture follows the discipline of  lutte raisonnéee , and the wines mature in 40 and 60-hectoliter  foudres  for a full year.

This Wine:
In the glass, this wine has a deep, brilliant red-purple color. The nose explodes with aromas of super-ripe wild cherries and cassis, seasoned with baking spices, white pepper, and kirsch. Concentrated and opulent on the palate with wonderful mineral brightness and refreshing vibrancy. Mouth-coating flavors that seem to gain weight as the wine takes on air. Long and persistent finish. Drink now-2014.

As always at Moore Brothers, this handcrafted blend made from 70 year-old Grenache (with a little Carignan and Syrah) was shipped to us in refrigerated containers, so it tastes as fresh and compelling at Moore Brothers as it tastes at  Le Mas des Aigras  in Orange.

I thank you sincerely for your continued support of exceptional small-farmers, and of their stewardship of our viticultural heritage. And I hope you have a wonderful summer.

Greg Moore