2018 Le Mistral “Joseph’s Blend” Red

2018 Le Mistral “Joseph’s Blend” Red

2018 Le Mistral “Joseph’s Blend” Red  Dark black violet color. Perfumed aromas of candied violet, star anise, dark chocolate, grass cuttings, fig, walnut, and incense with a slightly chewy, vibrant, fruity medium-full body and a tingling, interesting, medium-long eucalyptus, blackberry coulis, herbs de Provence, and peppercorns finish with chewy tannins and light oak flavor. A spicy and perfumed Rhone blend with great body.

We have tasted a record number of wines this year, and today’s offer has stopped us in our tracks with a mere two weeks before the end of a year we would all love to soon forget.  We have a one-time shot at one of California’s most re-requested red blends, under $35 .  This wine has never needed an email, it sells with little effort, but oddly, we have never tasted it until now.  If you love Venge Scout’s Honor, Prisoner, or any of the other big, rich reds coming out of California, this is for you.  This is the singular buy for the winter months ahead.

94 Decanter: Dark black violet color. Perfumed aromas of candied violet, star anise, dark chocolate, grass cuttings, fig, walnut, and incense with a slightly chewy, vibrant, fruity medium-full body and a tingling, interesting, medium-long eucalyptus, blackberry coulis, herbs de Provence, and peppercorns finish with chewy tannins and light oak flavor. A spicy and perfumed Rhone blend with great body.

There’s a wondrous array of herb and game aromas on the nose of this Grenache and Syrah blend, including charred beef, lavender and Dr Pepper alongside elderberry fruit. There is zippy acidity on the sip, where the licorice and lavender elements wrap around the brisk black-raspberry and plum core. WE

The Le Mistral 2018 Joseph’s Blend has achieved a high simmer in the cult California red market, due to the story of its inception and for what’s in the bottle at the price.  “Joseph’s Blend” is a tribute to the late great Joseph Phelps, one of the pioneers and titans of California wine.  Before he was made famous by Insignia, the most coveted of all Napa Cabs, he and a bunch of his colleagues, a group of young, eccentric and passionate winemakers who were obsessed with the red blends from Southern France and Chateauneuf du Pape and saw the potential for greatness in the soils of California.  These gentlemen, coined as the “Rhone Rangers” included Randall Grahm of Bonny Doon (cover of Wine Spectator), John MacCready of Sierra Vista, Fred Cline of Cline Cellars, and Bob Lindquist of Qupe Wine Cellars.  Today’s wine comes from Phelps’ original vineyard that he purchased back in the 1980’s to make his original bottling of “Le Mistral.”

The wine is 64% Grenache, 33% Syrah and 3% Petite Sirah. This is a must for Rhone Rangers and lovers of the Southern Rhone. The wine is a liquid feast, pure decadence in a glass that’s superbly constructed. This is definitely one of my favorite values of the 2020 season.  I cannot recommend highly enough grabbing some of this before it sells out.