La Bastide Saint Dominique, Côtes du Rhône (Rhône Valley, France) 2011

 This special bottling will cost half again as much as La Bastide Saint Dominique’s regular bottling of Côtes du Rhône, which is also quite good, but in my opinion this wine is well worth the additional charge.  In terms of weight, refinement, and sheer flavor impact, it is actually much more comparable to an excellent Gigondas than a Côtes du Rhône.  A blend of 80% Syrah and 20% Grenache, it shows excellent depth and plenty of muscle, but there’s no hardness or astringency, so you could either enjoy this now or lay it away for a few years to layer on some additional aromatic complexity