Recommendation: Recommended as a buy.
Winery/Producer: Pierre Amadieu, Domaine Grand Romane.
Grape Variety: Blend: 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre and 15% Syrah.
Geographic Region, Appellation: Gigondas, Southern Rhône Valley, France.
Vintage: 2006.
Price: $24.99
Purchased From: Total Wine; Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Paired With: Split pea soup with ham, carrots, onion and celery.
Tasting:

2nd Tasting: For me the Domaine Grand Romane was just a little rough around the edges. The 2010 Saint-Damien Les Souteyrades was a little richer, more complex flavors and a lot more going on in the wine. While the 2011 Saint-Damien was so smooth it was silky. All were great with the strong beef stew flavors.
She said: Tonight’s wine was a pig in a poke, we hadn’t had this before and after enjoying a Grenache blend so much a few nights before we thought it would go well with the strong ham flavors of the soup. My first impression was “WOW” based on the bouquet and first taste of sweet fruit. With its full body and dryness it went well with the saltiness of the soup but once the soup was finished the experience changed. The fruitiness became overwhelming and clawing and a bitterness emerged that lasted into the finish. As the wine sat open lots of fine tannins also emerged, so much so the character of the wine dramatically improved.
2nd Tasting: Our second bottle was served with Ray’s beef stew with winter root vegetables and it was delicious. The other two bottles (Saint-Damien 2011 Gigondas and Saint-Damien Les Souteyrades 2010 Gigondas) we had the previous evening, had been corked, refrigerated and brought to room temperature but lost something as a result. This one was opened two hours before dinner based on previous experience. I had Ray do a blind tasting for me and I covered my eyes with my napkin. None had a notable bouquet; this one had the most flavor, the Saint-Damien 2011 was the smoothest but didn’t have the nuances of flavors that the Saint-Damien Les Sauteyrades 2010 had. All were delicious with the dinner and I would have any of them again.
Comments: We had the second bottle, side-by-side with two other Gigondas (Saint-Damien 2011 and Saint-Damien Les Souteyrades 2010), and although we didn’t like this one best, it was flavorful and very delicious with the beef stew.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Bar code: 8 70749 00061 2