The Auswine Forum

Some friends arrived from Europe last week (to stay for all of January) and they brought a case of wine for us. Eight of the dozen wines are Rieslings (different vineyards,vintages [01/02] and styles) from Heinrich Spindler. Is anybody here familiar with this label?

The remaining four wines are French reds (I hope this information is enough to identify them):

Chateau Vangelas Corbieres 01
Domaine Richaud Les Garrigues Cotes du Rhone 00
Domaine De L'Oratoire St Martin Cuvee Prestige 00 Cairanne Cotes du Rhone Villages
Domaine Lea Vin de Pays D'Oc 01

Can anybody offer TNs on any of these, or even just tell me what variety they are?

Kieran

Kieran

I am not familiar with the labels of the wines you were given. However, I can confirm that both 2000 and 2001 were excellent vintages in the southern Rhone and Languedoc.

Given that these wines are likely to be blends, it is not always easy to know the cepage. One would expect the Corbieres to be Syrah based, but would also likely include some Grenache, Mourvedre, Carignan and possibly some Cinsault.

The Cotes du Rhone would most likely be Grenache based, with any number other other varieties (red and white) in the blend. CdR's vary enormously in quality, the best generally using more Syrah and Mourvedre in the blend.

Cairanne is considered to be one of the best villages that fall under the Cotes du Rhone Villages designation. Again, this wine is likely to be Grenache based with any number of other varieties in the blend.

I find better examples of these wines tend to drink well at 5 years of age - The 98's (a super vintage) are drinking very well right at this moment.

Hope this has been of some use!

Cheers
Phil