2006 Layer Cake Cotes du Rhone

I've tasted pretty much every wine under this label and as far as I'm concerned the wines are marginal at best. This is their interpretation of a Cotes du Rhone wine made from 100% Syrah sourced from "all four departments of the Rhône, centered around Chateauneuf du Pape." As far as barrel fermentation or other winemaking tech notes, the info. was not available. I do know it's a 15,000 case production.

On the nose I get aromas of mixed berry and concord grape jelly. The fruit smells a bit artificial and hi-c like and there is a distinct metallic note often found in cheaply made wines. There is also a greenish peppery hue that peaks through the fruit and adds a bit of complexity.

On the palate the wine shows some quick upfront berry notes and then turns green and slightly bitter and disjointed towards the finish. They say on the label and in the tech sheet that this wine is "rich", but I actually find it to be light to medium bodied. The wine has little to no finish but a bit of pepper and alcohol are what do linger on the palate.

I'll be completely honest, this wine pisses me off. It's a very poor representation of Syrah, it's a very poor representation of the Rhone valley, and it's really a piss poor representation of wine.

If someone tasted me blind on this stuff my first guess would be cheap Australian critter wine. There are plenty of really good Cotes du Rhone wines out there for the same price or less, so do yourself a favor and leave this one for the label hunters. 75 points

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