One of the great things about the various wines in the HSC
is that they all have character. Most of them have individual character and
even though they all perform more or less the same function for me, there is
very little blend together. The last few editions have seen us mired in French
soil and to that again we go for this installment as well.
Unlike the Guigal, this one took little to no time to “grow”
on me and out of the gate, I thought it was fantastic, which is more the norm
for the wines listed here. With this one heavily fueled percentage-wise by
Syrah, one of the HSC’s most favorite varietals, if not outright favorite, this
isn’t perhaps so surprising. Typically
this style of wine will more heavily feature Grenache, which adds to the St.
Esprit’s uniqueness. This one also takes very little air time to hit the sweet
spot.
This is an eminently smooth and highly enjoyable wine,
balanced by the Grenache, which adds a note of astringency to things lest they
get too boring. This is perhaps the most accessible wine yet on this list from
France and a good demonstration as to that country’s renown in the various wine
circles. It is not overly fruity, but rather displays the great depth of body
and maturity of taste that Syrah is so very good at. Again, not so surprising,
but certainly pleasant.
This one never seems to be on SPA, but at right around $12 a
bottle, it’s not much of a hit to pick up a few bottles and it does very well
as a drinking/sipping wine. It’s also one of my favorite French entries and is
as tried and true as they come, hence a Standard.
