What Garagiste said about the wine:
Remember when Robert Foley went out on his own after producing vintages at Pride that made them one of the most sought after wineries in California? This may be the Rhone equivalent.
Olivier Hillaire spent nearly 25 years at Relagnes, perfecting a Chateauneuf du Pape called Les Petits Pieds de l’Armand among other highly regarded wines. One of his pet projects at Relagnes was their traditional Cote du Rhone Vielles Vignes, a wine sourced from vines outside the boundaries of Chateauneuf du Pape that are so well thought off, they would rival Brunel’s parcel for Cuvee Centenaire. Many of our customers still insist the Relagnes Cote du Rhone VV is better than a large contingent of Chateauneuf du Pape and I would agree - especially as the wine ages (which it does majestically, unlike many Cote du Rhones). It is classic in every respect with deference to 1978 Chateauneuf du Pape as well as the history of the region.
Why is all of this relevant?
Relagnes was sold last fall and Olivier Hillaire was there standing in line to acquire their best vineyards. After protracted ballyhoo, Olivier was allowed to purchase several parcels as he was formerly married to Relagnes daughter. In this purchase he was able to acquire the best parcel of centennial vines that made Relagnes’ Les Petits Pieds de l’Armand. He also acquired several other ancient vine parcels in La Crau, Les Mourges, and Les Cailloux. While this is exciting news for Hillaire, it is not for Relagnes as their best vines have now gone to their former winemaker.
Ah yes, and the Cote du Rhone vines from the early part of the last century? May we present, the debut of Olivier Hillaire and his 2005 Cote du Rhone Vielles Vignes. If you had to make a debut, the 2005 Southern Rhone vintage was not a bad place to start.
All I will say is, if you like un-oaked, traditional Chateauneuf du Pape and you wish it was $12.87, you may want to strongly consider this.
What I thought of the bottle we opened last night (first of, sadly, a case): color's on the light side for a 2005 CdR. Nose has a bit of tuitti fruitti grapeness ith DuBoeuf-ish banana elements, which means even if I'm not loving this now, and I'm not, I'd have deTESTED it if I'd opened it any sooner. On the palate, very mild red fruit and raw celery underripeness. And in addition to what there is, there's what isn't here: no sweetness, no sign of syrah charcter and certainly none of the strawberries and pepper one gets from grenache. There's absolutely no joy in this wine whatsoever. Thought I couldn't miss on an 05 CdR for $12 bucks especially with that (hyperbolic) description, but this underperforms even that minimalist expectation.