N.V. Les Crêtes Valle d’Aosta Vino da Tavola Coteau La Tour- Italy, Valle d’Aosta (9/21/2010)
Part of a package from Cinderella wine. I guess it was not so well received there. Well, I did not think it sucked, but I can see why many would. This is very light bodied. Ruby/purple in color. The nose is actually very nice but not a lot of fruit. Earthy, charcoal and some boysenberry. On the palate, this is lightly textured and has just a bit of black raspberry fruit. It has some acidity and really needs some food. Kind of interesting and for my tastes, I enjoyed the wine but would have a tough time finding the right audience for. (84 pts.)
this must be the 2005 version then, if it’s from Cindy. I just drank my last glass of this from a bottle I opened 2 days ago and I’m lovin’ it. If I was to give it ‘points’, I’d make it 90-91, jsut a delicious mouthful of cool-climate syrah, with white pepper, an herbal edge, and good acidity, but also quite ripe (don’t forget, this comes from as near the Alps as you can grow grapes in Italy). Lovely stuff. Like a gamay or Loire wine on steroids.
I jumped on that Cindy offer…the 2006 Cliff Lede Cabernet by itself was almost worth the entire offer, and I recall a Malbec with the offer as well…I enjoyed the Cretes…probably the best Cindy offer I have seen.
Yeah, the Cindy hate on this wine is extreme. I haven’t tried it myself, but it sounds like serious cool-climate Syrah. Folks are buying on the internet, so why not google Valle d’Aosta and find out this is a cool zone in the Alps? It’s not going to taste like Shiraz, though the Galloni note was a bit misleading when compared to general experience with Les Cretes.
Looks like a similar hate is being applied on Cindy to a Bugay Cab that is apparently too light for a lot of folks. That’s fine if people only like big, full bodied wines, but they need to realize quality is not the same as what they like. Paying $20-$25 for something that expands your palate is not at all a waste, IMO. That’s why I personally love that price level as you can often get something well-made from an unfamiliar region or style. Even if you don’t like it, you still learn something.
I bought a bottle of the Syrah and Torrette Vigne Les Toules. Reading notes about the Syrah I got the feeling it had peoples’ expectations of domestic Syrah or even modern Rhone Syrah going against it. Hey you like it or you don’t, but expectations can do weird things to your mind also. I hope I enjoy the wines I bought.
![[scratch.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/4/42a16863a8714da3c1604419e3eb9206bb87aa50.gif "scratch"){kind=small}