Issue 9 of the Rhone Report has been out for quite a while now (but the harvest got most of my attention lately)! Jeb did an extensive tasting of Costières de Nîmes 2009 and 2010 vintages for this one, so I’ll be making two posts: one for Château de Nages wines; and one for Michel Gassier wines. So here are the highlights for Nages:

“These wines represent superb values at every level, with the top wines equaling the quality of more widely known AOCs. Both ’09 and ’10 are very strong here and readers should not miss these wines.”

Honor goes to the reds first…

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Cuvée JT Red “…possesses knockout aromatics, a powerful, fill-bodied mouth feel, fantastic purity, and solid length on the finish… A fantastic effort that will compete with any number of wines from more prestigious AOCs, and well worth the effort to track down” 91-93+ pts

2009 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Cuvée JT Red “…sports brilliant aromas of blackberry, crème de cassis, toasty oak, licorice, and smoke on the nose. While still very youthful…the purity of fruit & class here is front & center.” 92 pts

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Vieilles Vignes Red “…has the fleshy, full fruit of the vintage, as well as beautiful freshness, notable structure, and solid length.” 90-92 pts

2009 Château de Nages Vieilles Vignes Red – “Deep & dark on the nose, with loads of scorched earth, black pepper and crushed rock notes that are balanced by ripe, edgy fruit, spice and subtle floral nuances…”  90 pts

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes La Réserve Red – “Looking even better than the ’09, [the 2010] boasts huge aromatics of garrigue, violets, crushed rock, and pure, fresh fruit on the nose. Very well done… 88-90 pts

2009 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes La Réserve Red - “A beautiful, fresh, and supple red that delivers loads of southern Rhône flair with garrigue, spice, and mineral aromas, as well as excellent red and black fruit characteristics…” – 88 pts

What follows are the whites and the rosé, as noted:

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Cuvée JT White – “A brilliant white that will compete with anything coming out of the Rhône valley! …the wine delivers a fantastically pure array of ripe peach, white flowers, spice, buttered toast and green almond on the nose…” 92 pts

2009 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Cuvée JT White - ”showing excellent aromas of crisp pineapple, citrus rind, chamomile, and crushed flowers, medium to full body, notable balance, racy acidity, and superb focus and clarity on the finish…a top-notch effort…” 91 pts

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Vieilles Vignes White – “The wine shows classic southern Rhône character with notions of white peaches, lemon, subtle floral nuances, and solid minerality on the nose… a beautifully put together white that carries a balanced, fresh texture, solid acidity, and a good finish.” 89 pts

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes La Réserve White - “The estate’s entry level white…delivers a beautifully fresh, vibrant bouquet… Perfumed, intense, and lively on the nose, the wine … shows racy acidity, a clean, fresh texture, and a classic finish. …an excellent, versatile white that should put a smile on anyone face over the coming 2-3 years.” 89 pts

2010 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes La Réserve Rosé – “A textbook, delicious rosé…  The acidity and fruit will make this versatile on the dinner table…” 88 pts

For those of you interesed in reading Jeb Dunnuck’s complete review of our wines from the Rhone Report Issue 9, you can consult it here: 2011_Sept_RhoneReport9_Nages