About this WINE
Andre Romero
André Romero has been dubbed the `Superstar of Rasteau' by no less a figure than Robert Parker, and is equally passionate about his wines and his beloved Marseilles football club. On current form, his wines are in far better shape.
Self-taught and adhering to the virtues of low yields and extended fermentation, Romero has invested in an automatic pigeage system along Burgundian lines which ensures maximum extraction. The resulting wine is soft, yet sturdy, with berry flavours and a whiff of wood-smoke betraying its provenance.
Southern Rhône Blend
The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.
The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.
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Description
'Cuvée Confiance’ is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre from 100+ year-old vines. One of the top cuvées from this highly regarded producer, this wine is big in every dimension - intense aromas of black cherry, cassis and barbecued meat, concentrated black fruit on the palate, ripe tannins, crisp acidity - all beautifully balanced. Delicious now and likely to evolve nicely over the next 3-5 years.
Catherine Owen, London Shop, August 2011 All of the above, and then more, with oak successfully injected, lending fine tannic support. Ambitious but already balanced; its evolution should be fascinating and rewarding.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
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