2009 Les Halos de Jupiter Costières de Nîmes
I was immediately drawn to this inexpensive and very enjoyable wine because of its label. As you can see, it has an image of the planet Jupiter and some lovely designs that completely captivated my imagination. I got this with a bottle of 2007 Les Haloes de Jupiter Vacqueyras, which I’ve cellared for now. The Vacqueyras has a similar label.
I’m not sure that I’m reading right, but it appears that the Halos de Jupiter lineup is produced by a well-known Rhône oenologist, Philippe Cambie. It sounds like Mr. Cambie, who works with many Rhône winemakers, selects the wine and they’re made to order for the Jupiter line. The chateaunuef site says that the name was selected because Grenache is the “king” of the Southern Rhône, like Jupiter is the king of the ancient Roman pagan pantheon. The halos symbolize “the appellations that best express” the grape.
2009 Les Halos de Jupiter Costières de Nîmes: 60% Grenache, the rest a blend of syrah and carignane. It is a transparent red color with a nose of raspberry and other berry fruit. We tasted cherry, raspberry and hints of cola and cream on this light to medium bodied wine with subtle tannins. To us it seemed very pinot noir-like. Robert Parker described it as “a pretty, Burgundian-styled effort.” This is good. Maybe you could even call it “drops of Jupiter?”