A Delicious Surprise from a Small Corner of the Southern Rhone: Chateau Roustan from Costières de Nimes

The Rhône Valley is a big place. It's got a northern region where Syrah reigns supreme in reds and native (and lesser known) white grapes Viognier, Roussane, and Marsanne play lead roles and supporting roles to Syrah (yes, they blend white and red there). It has an even bigger southern region, which is super diverse and contains the famous Côtes-du-Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape designations.

I'm going to do a primer on the Northern Rhône soon, and then I'll get to the Southern Rhône shortly after, but for this post, I'll concentrate on a lesser known area of the Southern Rhône from where I have previously never tried a wine. It's called Costières de Nimes (Coat-Tee-AIRE d'Neem) and its the most southern of the Rhône's vineyards. It's so far south and west that it used to be considered part of the Languedoc region, which is bigger and less prestigious than the Rhône.

This is an area with a long history of winemaking and a whole hell of a lot of pride. Greeks were the first to cultivate vines in the Costières de Nimes. They alighted from the Mediterranean, found some native grapes, and in 500 BC started making the good stuff. Centuries later, Romans moved in, developed the area and it's rumored that Julius Ceasar's soldiers hung out here and imbibed in the fruit of the vine! In the 8th century, the real wine-lovers and perfectionists -- the monks from various sects (Benedictines, Cistercians, oh my!) started making fabulous wine.

Things clicked along for a while and then the world got a better taste of wines from this area when, in the 17th century, the Canal du Midi, a waterway connecting the Mediterranean with the Atlantic, opened international markets for this region's wine. The region was awarded its own designated, controlled origin (Appellation d'origine contrôlée) in 1986.

A funny thing about this region -- bullfighting seems to be a huge deal here. Although I didn't see anything in my research on Spanish influence, the web site for the wines of the region mentions two festival days involving bullfighting and a Pamplona-like bull chase...kind of not what I'd expect in Southern France, but what do I know?

I guess I better stick to the wine...

Like a lot of the Southern Rhône there are 5 main grapes that drive the boat in these wines: Syrah, Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan, and Cinsault. Growing in a hot climate, which experiences some crazy storms, and the Mistral wind that comes from the North and can rip all the grapes off a vine in seconds, these grapes are each hearty and resilient and each add a special something to the blend. The soils tend to be stony and alluvial (deposits from rivers that look like stones and dirt) and can add a dusty mineral note to the wine.

Although similar in climate and in grapes used, wines from the Costières de Nimes are nothing like their richer neighbors in the east and northeast Rhône Valley (Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Vacqueras, Gigondas). These wines tend to be lighter in style with less complexity -- more everyday wines than ageble ones! It's also worth noting that because of all the sucky weather in this area, vintage matters a lot. The wine below was a 2008, which was a harder vintage in the Rhône with wind, rain, and a wicked Mistral wind that lead to a smaller crop of just ok fruit -- very different from 2005 or 2007, for instance.

And now to the wine, which I was surprised to find and bought out of curiosity -- having never before seen a Costières de Nimes on a shelf!

The Wine: Chateau Roustan
Where It's From: Costières de Nimes, Rhône Valley, France
The Grapes: 50% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre, 20% Grenache
Vintage: 2008
Price: $12.99

Color: Syrah and Mourvedre are both pretty dark varieties so, not surprisingly, this wine was a rich ruby. It had a pretty watery rim, which I find typical of Rhône Syrah (the Australian Shirazes are so much darker and hold color to the edge practically) and medium legs, meaning moderate alcohol (it was 13%, which is pretty standard).

Smell: I really love when a wine tastes like it's from somewhere. There are so many wines out there that are generic-tasting -- not so with this puppy. Flowers, blueberry, cherry, and spice all wrapped together in a wine that was like a bottle of expensive perfume. I smelled something like a pecan sandy cookie too. The best parts of this wine for me though -- the stinky, mineral, dust smells and then the new leather that anchored this wine to the land it grew in. Very interesting, in a good way.

Taste: Syrah is known for dark fruit flavors, high tannin, and leathery flavors. Mourvedre is used for its musky, earthy notes. Grenache adds alcohol, acid, cherry, and other red fruit notes. In this wine, together these made something really delicious. Blueberry syrup, orange rind, sour cherry, and warm cinnamon spice were all over this wine. Dark flowers and roasted walnuts hung around in the background. The wine had noticeable tannin and a little alcohol burn, but it was all in balance. Even with all that flavor, the wine was medium bodied -- it wasn't huge.

Food Pairings: Like I said, this isn't a big daddy wine. Hard cheeses and salty meats like prosciutto are great for this wine. Perhaps it's because of the bullfighting stuff, but I also envision this with Spanish tapas -- mushrooms in olive oil and garlic or patatas bravas (spicy fried potatoes in a special spicy aioli).

Drink or Down the Sink?: Drink. A solid wine for a great value. If you like full-flavored, blockbuster wines, this will be too subtle for you, but I liked it's lightness and complex smells and tastes. It's a good find from a small, historical, and pretty awesome region.

Note: If you can't find a Costières de Nimes, look for a Côtes-du-Rhône with Syrah as the main grape, or a Côtes-du-Ventoux or Côtes-du-Luberon, which should have some similarly delicious characteristics!