Domaine de l'Amandine 2020 Côtes du Rhône

£9.90
Tasting notes
Full of fruit, dark berries and spices that go ideally with fatty meats and hard cheeses and also charred roast vegetables.

Why we recommend this wine
When we visited the Rhone a few years ago we found that we preferred the Côtes Du Rhône that had a fair bit of Syrah in the blend, it gave elegance and structure. So here we have a wine with Syrah that is made by a small family-owned winery – suits us perfectly.

The wine
This Côtes Du Rhône is a blend of Grenache and Syrah. The grape bunches are fully de-stemmed and then undergo cold maceration for 12 hours before fermentation. During fermentation the must has two micro-oxygenations per day and a rack-and-return (“délestage”). The fermented wine (with skins) is then warmed for a short period before emptying the vat and pressing the skins.

The wine estate
A third and soon to be fourth generation family wine business that have a wonderful story (please see here) and farm using eco-friendly, traditional methods but with considerable influence of the new world approach. They have 120 acres of vines around the beautiful hillside village of Séguret in the heart of Provence, just a stone’s throw from the renowned southern Rhône vineyards of Gigondas and Rasteau.
domaine-amandine

Food and wine
This wine can be drunk as an aperitif or with an hors d'oeuvre (for example a rocket salad) or lamb cutlets grilled with thyme. Also see our guide to pairing food and wine here.

Did you know?
Côtes du Rhône includes both the North and South Rhone regions from Lyon in the North to Avignon in the south to the mountain ranges to the East and the West, covering more than 80,000 hectares making it one of the largest appellations in the world.