Ever had a wine from Cotes du Rhone? I have, but I couldn't tell you a thing about it. Knowledge of French wine isn't really in my wheelhouse. I don't know the difference between Left Bank and Right Bank.
A quick Google search revealed that nine consecutive popes lived in this French wine region from 1309 to 1423. The best Cotes du Rhone wines, or reserve wines, were kept for hierarchy of the Catholic Church. The church owned vineyards in the region, and wine was produced by monks living in local monasteries.
Grenache, of which I am a big fan, happens to be the dominant grape in red Cotes du Rhone wines. The Reserve de l'Abbe is a blend of 60% grenache, 30% syrah and 10% cinsault. Each bottle is individually numbered, another sign of a quality wine. A few sips of the $14.99 Reserve de l'Abbe Cotes du Rhone proved to be money in the bank for me. And that's all I really need to know.
I picked out some lovely dried red fruit flavors that paired nicely with a hunk of Jeff's Cave Aged Gouda, feta-stuffed olives, and a couple of walnut-stuffed dates. I also heated up some leftover DeVitis pulled pork that was great with the wine. However, the coup de grace was definitely the grilled cowboy chop from Al's Quality Market in Barberton, Ohio. The two together were heavenly.
'Devine' intervention? Quite possibly.
