Edmunds St. John "Rocks and Gravel," 2005, California

This southern Rhone style blend has light glowing translucent red color like an expensive California pinot. The rocks and gravel is a blend of Grenache, Mouvedre, and Syrah. Sweet cherry, plum, cedar, mossy wet soil and a bit of gameyness typify the nose. This guys got a little bit of bottle age and the tannins have softened out nicely but there is still a nice lift in the middle. This is a medium bodied wine with a silkiness to the texture. It is aslo remarkably clean given the hint of funkiness on the nose. I like its delicateness and elegance but perhaps it’s bordering on being a little too unobtrusive. The fruit is pure and not too sweet but I also found it a little buried at first. Cedar really dominates the flavor profile with a hints of tar, fresh herbs, and malt-ball candy. This wine is appealing to me for its balance of terroir-like flavors, purity of fruit, overall structure, and varietal correctness. I think decanting would be a good idea, as the fruit became more foregrounded as the wine was open for a few days. Fresh Strawberry and concentrated cherry juice became a lot more noticeable. I found this wine in the orphan bin at Wild Oats for 13 bucks and that is a steal. It normally retails at about 20 and that’s not so bad either!