Roussanne

White Rhone wines can be so hard to know where they are as they age.  This wine is very good, but much bigger, riper and blowsier at the moment (or at least this bottle was) than expected.   It is a blend of 70% Roussanne, 17% Picpoul Blanc, 10% Grenache Blanc, 2% Bourboulenc and 1% Clairette Blanche.  Medium golden with a few green swirls, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with lemon, vanilla, baked apples and spice.  Medium to full bodied.  Moderate acidity.  Nice texture.  On the palate, lemons, vanilla and spices.  Good finish.  This is nice on its own but would be better with the rig

This is a 60/40 blend of Chardonnay and Roussanne from California.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is lovely with lemon rind, shite flowers, slight almond notes and chalk.  Full bodied.  Light to medium tannins.  On the palate, this is big and round but enough acidity to work well.  Still young, this should continue to mature and get better but is already drinking well.  Drink over the next ten to fifteen years.  Maybe better on its own right now as this is a big wine, but it would work with shrimp and pasta for example.  

These wines can be hard to judge as to when they are open for business.  This bottle was drinking beautifully.  Golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose is great with peach, wax, buttered popcorn and lemon.  Also a nice touch of minerality.  Full bodied.  Oily texture.  Good balance.  On the palate, dried peach, apples with underlying minerals and slight char.  Long finish.  This is complex and deep.  Probably not at peak but showing a nice maturity.  Drink over the next twenty years.  This would work well with Veal Chops.  

This is a blend of 41% Roussanne, 26% Chardonnay, 14% Petit Manseng, 12% Viognier and 7% Muskat (Gelber Muskateller).

This started a bit tight, but with three hours of air, this was absolutely singing.  80% Marsanne with 20% Rousanne grapes from multiple vineyards.  Golden in color with some green hues, clear and bright.  The nose initially shows tightly with limes, some melons and spice.  With air, more notes come out; salinity, butterscotch, almonds but also more melons and slight lemons.  Really complex.  Great "slick" texture with pin point balance and energy.  The palate mirrors the nose and really explodes with lots of air.  Melons, quince, spice, minerality and a bit of almonds on the finish.  Layer

A very nice northern Rhone white, perhaps a bit lighter in style, but in a good way. It is a blend of 95% Marsanne, and 5% Roussanne.  Light yellow/gold in color, clear and bright.  The nose is nice with vanilla, peach, pears and spice.  Medium bodied.  Crisp acidity.  On the palate, tangerine with slight lemon peel and the oak/spice continues thru to the finish.  A bit of grapefruit on the finish as well.  This is very nice on its own but even better with food.  It went well with a vegetarian cassoulet.  Drink over the next three to five years.  

This is a blend of 66% Roussanne, 21% Grenache Blanc, 8% Picpoul Blanc, 3% Picardin and 2% Clairette Blanche.  Light golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has pears, peaches, some minerality and spice.  Full bodied.  On the palate, pears and peaches with good acidity.  A roundness of the wine makes it very accessible.  Long finish.  Still youthful, there is plenty of depth and complexity.  White Rhone varietals are notoriously difficult to guess an ageing curve, but this should easily have a decade left.  It worked quite well with a Caprese Salad and also Guacamole.  

This is a blend of 53% Roussanne, 23% Viognier and 19% Chardonnay.  At age 12, this took only a few minutes to open and then was drinking well.  Deep golden in color, clear and bright.  The nose has wax lemons, and some gunpowder.  Full bodied.  Showing just as slight touch of oxidation as older white Rhone varietals often do.  The palate has lemons, pith and vanilla.  Long finish.  This is very tasty and quite complex.  There is some serious weight to this wine.  It drinks great on its own but will work even better with food.  Its hard to put a drinking window on white Rhone varietals but

White Rhone wines can be so finicky, so when a friend opened this for his birthday, it was nice to see this was firing on all cylinders.  Earlier in the day while reading a book about the White House and Wine, it mentioned that Thomas Jefferson referred to White Hermitage as France's greatest white wine, and this bottle gave that some credence.  These wines are so unique when on that they are not for everyone.  It doesn't seem fair to group with Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc as they drink more like a red in that they are not crisp or refreshing or tart.  This one is golden in color, clear a