{"id":3663,"date":"2012-03-06T06:36:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T06:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=3663"},"modified":"2012-03-06T06:36:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-06T06:36:00","slug":"plan-pegau-2009-baby-chateauneuf-du-pape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/bostonzest.com\/?p=3663","title":{"rendered":"Plan P\u00e9gau 2009 “Baby Chateauneuf du Pape”"},"content":{"rendered":"

A couple of bottles of Plan P\u00e9gau 2009<\/a> were sitting in our wine rack. This wine had been introduced to us as a "baby Chateauneuf du Pape" by Howie Rubin at Bauer Wines<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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A few nights later, Gretchen Jones (@moralbeast<\/a>) mentioned a great Cote du Rhone that she was enjoying. That sent me to the rack to pull the Plan P\u00e9gau and plan a meal around it. <\/p>\n

As students of wine, we learn by researching the wines that come our way. We had already been told that this was from one of the great Chateauneuf du Pape winemakers, Laurence F\u00e9raud from Domaine du P\u00e9gau.<\/a> Her wines can run four to five times the $14.99 price tag on this one.<\/p>\n

The importer, Hand Picked Selections<\/a> (HPS) says the 2009 Plan P\u00e9gau, "offers a true and loud echo of the flavor and style of Domaine du Pegau Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Pape. A perfect illustration of the HPS mantra of quality, character and value, it always seems to have a bit of that magic Ch\u00e2teauneuf funk!"<\/p>\n

We paired it with a rib eye after reading a comment from Wine & Spirits Magazine<\/a> that this wine was, "…a red to sink your teeth into…mouthfilling and delicious, the vinous equivalent of a good aged steak." <\/p>\n

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From the moment we opened the screwtop, Plan P\u00e9gau made an impression. Photographing it was torture. It has a big presence and was sending out enticing aromas that made us want to get straight to tasting. <\/p>\n

From this one we learned about rap\u00e9.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blogger Edmonton Wine Host ran a post on Plan P\u00e9gau<\/a> and reported that it might contain some rap\u00e9 from P\u00e9gau. He explained, "Rape<\/em> means left over juice, skins or crush from a previous harvest. Also can be a winery way of 'disposing' of extra juice from an excellent harvest."<\/p>\n

We knew about second labels, like Oregon superstar producer Owen Roe Winery's<\/a> <\/a>O'Reilly's<\/a> line. Now we know about another way to hunt for unexpected quality at a great price. Find out if it is the baby sister in a great family.<\/p>\n

We plan to buy more!<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you see this wine at a good price, grab it. We loved it and expect it will be just as good over the next couple of years. <\/p>\n

What's on your wine shopping list? Remember to click over to Amazon<\/a>\"\" from here to support this site!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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