Petit Chapeau Cotes du Rhone

Grapes: Grenache (80 percent), mourvedre (15 percent), syrah (5 percent)

Region: Rhone Valley, France

Vintage: 2005

Price: $11.99

In the glass: Petit Chapeau (Little Hat) wine is a deeply opaque garnet color with a dense core going out into a firm light-red to pinkish rim definition with medium-high viscosity.

On the nose: There are freshly crushed red berry fruits with a minty component, hints of gaminess, beef carpaccio, lavender bush, concentrated sloe fruit juice, balsa wood and underlying notes of white pepper and smoke.

On the palate: There is good extract of red fruits dominated by red cherries, Mirabelle plum skins, spice components, white pepper, red bell pepper, sloe fruit, juniper berries and very vague traces of wood. It is a very pure fruit-driven wine. The midpalate has a richness from the seemingly unfiltered character of the wine with yet more red fruits and earthy minerals going into a solid finish that lingers with great balance between the fruit and the acidity.

Odds and ends: Coming from one of the top vintages, Petit Chapeau is a delicious medium-bodied effort made from classically proportioned grape varietals that should drink well for at least another three years. Remember to open it about an hour before drinking. Try it with a slow-roasted leg of lamb rubbed in salt, garlic and herbs de Provence.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.