Buy this wine:  2007 Domaine de la Charbonnière Vacqueyras

There’s a bunch of buzz about the 2007 Southern Rhones.  Certainly Gary Vaynerchuk thinks highly of the 2007 Chateauneuf de Papes, but they can get pretty expensive pretty quickly.

Our good friends at Bin 604 recommended this wine for us while we were discussing the ’07 vintage as a solid value play, something that is very drinkable now, but is solid enough to lay down for up to 15 years.  As budding oenophiles, J and I are trying to learn more about vintage and place, as well as starting to build a cellar that is more than just the ‘case of the month’ plus some one off purchases.  We’d like to at least build a collection deep enough to always, or almost always, have the right wine for the food or the occasion.

Anyway…  tasted this with dinner the other night:  FANTASTIC.  Great young fruit now, some pepper, and solid tannins, but not too much.  It’s drinking very well now, and to my limited palate, it seems it could only get better with some years.  At about $29 without a case discount, this is worth a go.  We’re going to buy a case this weekend, along with a more expensive 2007 to see how the value stands up.