Les Rouliers Vin de Table de France Grenache Blend

See notes from 58 weeks ago. This is the 3rd ranked Cuvée from Henri Bonneau. The difference with this wine this was more Animale than the garrigue in the earlier wine. This was more stinky and barnyard than the rosemary and thyme a year ago. Despite this it remains a delicious wine with spicy red berries and resolved tannins on the palate. Not the raspberry notes you get with new world Grenache. This is an NV so not sure of the vintages which were included here. I first tried his leading Cuvée, Celestines, in a restaurant in Mondragon in Chateauneuf du Pape, and it remains a Wow Wine but hard to locate in this country.

From the enigmatic Henri Bonneau who sadly passed away a few years ago. Winemaking now handled by his son. Medium to dark crimson. This is one of his lesser Cuvées after the legendary Celestines and then Marie Beurrier and is classified as NV. Stacks of Garrigue - the combo of Rosemary Thyme and loam - love CDP. Also a muted dusty raspberry note and after a few hours in the decanter a lovely floral perfume with liquorice notes. Silky and long.

L11/12 🔥🔥🔥

From the legendary Henri Bonneau of CNP. This is a non vintage wine, normally a blend of two vintages (2005 & 2009?) From a 3.5 Ha vineyard in the Gard department. No Syrah but Grenache, and tiny amounts of Mouvedre, Counoise & Vaccarese.
The resulting wine is one of astonishing freshness, purity and tension. Look for depth (not width) here. This has structure, aplomb and good definition. The tannins are abundant, grippy which evoke bags of spices and leather. The spicy/phenolic (Herby, liquorice)/sappy and ripe tannins quality character suggests some whole bunch fermentations which add extra tannins, matter and density...tension too. The fruit is obvious but restrained. Firm, tight and powerful, this is one of the best wines I have tasted this year. CNP quality in this wine, would be interested to see how it would perform in a blind tasting amongst other illustrious Chateauneufs...

This is so freaking good. Thank you Lyle Fass.

Personally I am just not that into Grenache these days but this one is so well made and kind of fun I can't score it an 88 which is my personal score. For the Grenache lover though this is as good as it gets for $40 or so.
A heady dose of oak is noticeable on the finish, especially when the glass is low on wine. But fear not it is well integrated on the palate.
Like dense, liquid silk, this is so easy to drink with finely grained tannin (thank God some tannin) on the finish.
Some acidity even checks in after an hour open as the wine broadens with air.

This had a funny evolution from the cork pull. Fruity and slick the first 30 minutes, then broader and more acid with more noticeable tannin...then it went into beast-mode and got huge after 2+hours.

This would stand up well to many CdP that lack the balance and finesse this wine gets from the late-great master Bonneau.

This freaked the funk. Great value. A Grenache I can stand and enjoy.

Really tasty NV blend of 05 and 07 made by son of Henri Bonneau in Chateauneuf

Leather-y and a bit green. Grippy, ripe tannins.

Вначале в носе сквозит легкая молочка, но потом она быстро развеивается. В аромате и вкусе вступают спелая слива, мятая ежевика, красные апельсины, кожа, табак, солод, кофейная гуща, сухая кора, мягкие специи. Плюшевое тело с достаточной кислотностью и шероховатыми, но не резкими танинами. Корректная бочка и удачно замаскированный, однако ощутимый в структуре алкоголь дают тёплый тембр. Спело и чуть уваренно, при этом в меру напряжённо и глубоко. Со временем расправляет плечи.