OK, I finally opened this guy last night, and I realized I owe my notes on this one, so here goes:
I’ll start by saying that one of my favorite bargain Northern Rhone Blends is the “M. Chapoutier Cotes du Rhone Belleruche”. This is usually readily available at several grocery and wine stores in my area and retails for $12 - $16, depending on location and vintage. This is the wine that I am comparing the RJS WS Grenache Syrah.
The RJS compares nicely in flavor and texture, both are a nice garnet red (thanks to the Syrah skins included in the kit) with aromas of red berry fruit. It has some herbal notes with generous dark berry fruit flavors. The Belleruche, even for a value priced wine, has a fairly long spicy finish. This is pretty much where the RJS doesn’t quite compare – like most of my bigger reds – even though the aroma, fruit and tannins compare nicely with value priced commercial wines, they just tend to “disappear” on finish. I assume this is because I don’t use a barrel and therefore do not achieve the concentration that some commercial wines do.
Overall though, I will be making the RJS WS Grenache Syrah again. At one year (from stabilization date), it is very nice, goes well with food, and presents a very nice representation of a value priced Cotes du Rhone blend.