Last night, we went out to dinner at one of the best local restaurants, a French-inspired bistro. With our dinner of rack of lamb (Jean) and hearty vegetable pot pie (me), we got a bottle of:
2005 Perrin & Fils Chateauneuf-du-Pape "Les Sinards" nose: cherry, pepper palate: medium body, chalky tannins, cherryish fruit
This wine, declassified young vines from Ch. Beaucastel along with other parcels, came across as a very clean but simple CdP. As I remarked to Jean, it would pass for a high quality CdR. As a Chateauneuf, OTOH, it pales beside its big sibling and other top fliight producers. At $50 per bottle at the restaurant, though, it represented a decent value (especially in comparison to the $85 for a '03 Guigal CdP)