Costieres de Nimes has a storied past to say the least. It’s located between the ancient city of Nimes and the Rhone valley, but was classified as part of the Languedoc until recently. They’ve made wine in the area for thousands of years, and indeed Costieres de Nimes has some of the oldest vines in Europe. For this reason, it has some amazing values compared to the rest of the Rhone and Languedoc. With a mediterranean climate and sea influence, the wines from Nimes tend to be more elegant than extracted. Further, they seem to have a noticeable influence of “Garrigue”. Garrigue is a wine term and terroir aspect that “refers to the low-growing vegetation on the limestone hills of the Mediterranean coast… There are a bunch of bushy, fragrant plants that grow wild there, such as juniper, thyme, rosemary and lavender. Garrigue refers to the sum of them.” Those notes show through here in this bottle, as well as an amazing fruit character.
Quick Tasting Notes: Garrigue herbaceous qualities, a slight smoky note, and beautiful ripe cherry fruit qualities. Pairs great with dishes like steak, but it’s also elegant enough to substitute for pinot noir style pairings like duck.