I don’t remember why I picked this one up. Presumably because Delas rang a bell, while the wine itself, Grignan-les- Adhémar, didn’t. And it’s a Rhone, which I tend to like. So when I was browsing The Wine Society, and came across this, I presumably figured I’d take a risk. Let’s see if it paid off.
In the glass
Deep ruby, with some purple tints at the edges. The latter is unexpected in a three-year old wine. Clear. No smoke, on the water or elsewhere.
This is a stereotypical red wine. If you asked someone to draw you a picture of a deep red wine, this is what you’d end up with. Assuming, of course, they had crayons or coloured pencils or whatever, and weren’t doing a charcoal sketch, or some such.
It’s nice looking, but unremarkable. Too dark to see through, so can’t see how, if at all, the light plays on it.
The nose
Most definitely has one. Although not a face. Perhaps the result of someone’s spite? If you are into the whole labelling thing, I’d call it a prominent nose. I can even pick up some admittedly indistinct scents before I stick my nose in the glass. That’s unusual for me these days.
Dark, although not too broody. It doesn’t really invite deep introspection the way some wines do. Some spice – I’d go with pepper, although that may be a result of expectations. Some cinnamon, and a hint of cedar. So, starting to show some age-related characteristics, I think.
It smells more like an autumnal wine than one for spring. But that’s ok. I live in England. I’ll just wait an hour or two, and the weather will match the wine.
Sometimes, I like to look at a wine. This one I like to smell. Most probably because I can, and not just simple fruits. Which, by the way, I’m not picking up much of. General dark fruits, maybe some bramble.
The palate
Medium to medium-plus body. It’s lighter than I was expecting it to be from the nose and colour. It’s more towards the red fruits than I was expecting as well. Still no bright fruits, but perhaps some sort of compote? (Do all that many people eat compote these days? Why do we use it for describing wines?)
There’s something on the red-black fruit border. I guess that’s another way of talking about the compote-y element. Hints of cocoa? I’m not sure I’m ready to call it black cherry, which is the closest I can come to a specific fruit. Maybe dark cherries dusted with cacao?
Apparently, black cherries are part of the rose family, botanically speaking. So, for the budget-conscious (and who isn’t these day?), next time you think roses, bring black cherries instead. At an abstract enough level of classification, they’re practically the same thing.
Well-integrated tannins. They’re not really noticeable at first, except in a structural sense. But they build up after a while.
It has a refreshing and surprising streak of quite high acidity, which helps lift the whole thing up.
Rating
I’m going with Pretty on the visuals. More out of niceness, I think. It doesn’t deserve less, but it also isn’t an attention-grabber. It would be a good spy or undercover agent, the sort that works best unnoticed.
An easy Yummy-Plus for overall. Drinks quite well on its own, but would also quite well with food. My original plan called for pairing it with venison meatballs over spaetzle, but I got lazy. I’m sure that would have been a good match, though. Next time.
Sustainability
Unknown. Can’t find any mention on the Delas website, or anywhere else. So, assume not.
The technical info and such
14% ABV. About 80% Grenache, 20% Syrah. £9.50 – an absolute bargain – from The Wine Society.