WTN: Cotes du Rhone and Champagne on NYE

2007 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Villages I haven't been really jumping on the 2007 S. Rhone bandwagon but this is a solid offering for the level. Ripe but not overripe, berries and red plums, good finish. Not complex but tasty.

NV Vignerons de la Cadierenne "Charles IX " (VdP Mont Caume) I brought this Provencal rose as a counterpart to the chicken. Not sure if it's the match or what, but I like it a little more than previous showing. Strawberries and herb, large framed, dry. B- (I had previously noted the weirdness of a wine named after a king best known for massacring Protestants, but in a bit of additional irony a dessert next to it was...Huguenot Torte!)

2007 Delas "St. Esprit" Cotes du Rhone Typical showing. I've not found this as bad as some, but hard to believe it got a 90 from a major critic. Low acid, overripe/jammy, not very long. Worth (barely) its $9 tag. B-/C+

---------------------------------------------------------------- I had a bottle of the 2006 a couple of weeks ago. Not jammy, fairly short - just a pleasant plonk and certainly no where near a 90! This is what I call a blood thinner, one that you open when you don't feel like a more expensive bottle but want to maintain the level of cyanowhatsits in your blood. Graham