Domaine Lafond Lirac Roc-Epine 2007

Once again, the Lirac region comes through with a QPR winner. There seems to be a lot of good wines from this overlooked AOC. Give it some air to experience the roasted herbs and spice notes. It's a baby CdP at a fraction of the price.

I have watched this wine plummet in price at my local Costco over the past 3 months. They started out selling this wine for $13.99, and because it is a somewhat unfashionable appellation, it obviously didn't sell, so they have cut the price 4 times, and it is now available at the ridiculous price of $6.97 a bottle. I first tried this wine when it was selling for $9.97 in a big tasting where it got lost among many (it also may have been an off bottle), and it failed to make any sort of impression. As it was now down to $6.97, which was absurd for a Rhone from a good producer with a > 90 Parker score, I felt that I needed to give it another try, this time on it's own, with food. Well, this bottle was better than the first, and in particular, now that it is a well under $10 wine, I think it's quite a fine value at this level (although I would not buy more at $12-15). It is more noticeably Syrah than Grenache, and it definitely shows some Cotes du Rhone character and some earthiness, and has a nice, lingering finish, with some acidity so it makes a fine accompaniment to pasta. Note: This wine continues to plummet in price at Costco, as it is now down to $5.97 a bottle.

I have had this wine with everything from chicken and dumplings to blackened cajun chicken with pasta alfredo and I find it has both the smoothness and backbone to compliment most dishes. The syrah added to this predominately grenache beauty gives it just enough strength to compliment the sweet smoothness of the grenache. A staple in my cellar.