The 2009 Vin des Amis, a table wine of France, is a surprisingly dense, concentrated, serious red that sells for a song. It is meant to be drunk in its exuberant youth.
(Not yet released)
These are among the finest wines I have tasted from Clape in my 30+ years of visiting and tasting with first Auguste Clape and more recently his son, Pierre-Marie. Long a sleeper selection is Clape’s Cotes du Rhone, a Syrah-based wine made just outside the Cornas appellation (at times, it may include some declassified Cornas material in the blend).
Importer: Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA; tel. (510) 524-1524