Two wines I really liked, recently purchased from the Kempische Wijnhuis, came from the recommended Domaine de la Guicharde. The Cuvee Ninon is an oak aged cuvee made of 60% syrah 40% grenache, and comes from the hot '03 vintage The wine displays very attractive and complex nose of rspberries, lavender, iron, and mushrooms. Chocolaty (torrefaction) in the mouth but a beautiful sweetness that is still light and precise. Delicious and low in alcohol for an '03, it went great with arroz con pollo and then with a vacherin to finish the meal.

Tried on a different night, the Le vin rouge d'Isabelle, also '03, is pure grenache and aged in stainles steel. The wine is more brooding with leather, raspberries, and what smells like blood from a stone. It's grainy and assertive, and finishes very figgy. In fact, a couple of hours later the fig aroma was dominating. 14.5% alcohol (but not surprising for the varietal and vintage).

I really enjoyed both of these wines but I LOVED the cuvee Ninon. This recent focus on S. french and Rhone blends has confirmed my suspicion that as good as these southern French grenache blends are, it's the delicacy of the N. Rhone and predominantly Syrah blends that really turn me on.

Check out the web site of this domaine and while your at it, take a look at the site of the idependant vignerons of France. It's an informative site that provides links to similarly minded producers in France as well as dates and locales for upcoming wine tastings. For me, I'm thinking about going to the Paris Salon on the weekend of Nov 25 and 26th. If you'd like to try and meet up while I'm there, post a comment and we'll see if our schedules work.