Caves Saint-Pierre Vacqueyras – GSM Love

A blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre aged for 9 months in casks and large barrels. From Vacqueyras, Southern Rhone, France.

Available for $12.99 exclusively at Trader Joe’s.

From the bottle:

“Located in Chateauneuf-du-Pape since 1898, Caves Saint-Pierre is a winery whose reputation has been built on the knowledge of the vineyards along with expertise in the blending and ageing of wines for over one hundred years.

11 to 14% Alcohol”

Grenache, Syrah and Mourvedre (GSM) blends are some of our very favorites. Now made virtually everywhere, the true home of these blends is the Southern Rhone Valley. And today, thanks to Trader Joe’s, we’ve got an excellent example from an area right in the heart of the homeland, Vacqueyras. As we saw in our overview of the Cotes du Rhone, Vacqueyras is one of the 8 Southern Rhone Crus neighboring both Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Because it is not as well known as its two prominent neighbors, this is a great spot for Reverse Wine Snobs to find value.

The 2012 Caves Saint-Pierre Vacqueyras begins with very pleasant aromas of black cherry, blackberry, plum, baking spice and herbs (garrigue). Tasting reveals similar flavors to the nose — dark fruit, but nice and juicy, and lots of baking spice and herbal notes. It gets better as it gets more air, so I recommend pulling the cork on this one a few hours before you plan to drink it or just take it slow and watch it evolve in your glass. It ends dry with more of the same — juicy fruit, baking spice and herbs — which is a very good thing. This is a great find. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for reviews of some of the other Caves Saint-Pierre wines found at Trader Joe’s as well, like theGigondas.

Find all of our Trader Joe’s recommendations here.