Wine time humor
Guy calls 911 and says: “I think my friend is dead!”
Operator says: “Ok, stay calm. The first thing we need to do is make sure he’s dead.”
After a pause, the operator hears a loud gunshot, and the guy comes back on the phone and says: “Ok, now what?”
Wine time.
Ogier Héritages Côtes du Rhône Red 2022
Deep ruby color; cherry, plum, blackberry, raspberry, strawberry, licorice, oak, vanilla on the nose and palate.
Dry; genteel tannins and courteous acidity. Medium body. Solid easy drinker with a little bite on the finish. Not sophisticated with layers and complexity, but a nice weekday pour. Ogier is a high quality maker in the Rhône with several Châteauneuf-du-Pape winners, plus vineyards in Côte-Rôtie, Condrieu, Saint-Joseph, and this effort from Côtes du Rhône. This is their entry level, value wine. It will not scale the heights of its brethren at Ogier, but it is nice, tasty, well made at a fraction of the price. 14.5% ABV
Ogier vineyard
Blend of Côtes du Rhône grapes—50% grenache, 40% syrah, 5% mourvèdre, 5% marselan. Destemmed, partial or complete crushing depending on the harvest. Spent six months in used oak—some foudres as old as 40 years, some in tronconic vats (fermentation-aging vessels shaped like a cone—wider at the top). Edouard Guérin is the winemaker.
Ogier harvest
Christophe Ogier founded Ogier in 1859. In the beginning, they grew various crops and sold grapes to négociants, including Marcel Guigal. They began to make their own wines in 1948. Michel Ogier began bottling and selling their family’s entire harvest in 1987. Stéphane Ogier, Michel’s son, joined the family business in the late 1990s after studying oenology in Burgundy. They built a new winery in Ampuis that was completed in 2014.
Ogier Héritages Côtes du Rhône Red 2022 is a nice value wine from a quality southern Rhône maker. Smooth, with good red and black fruit for such an offering. Good choice for simple mid-week meal or for the second bottle at a larger, more ambitious dining event. Pair with beef—grilled or braised; lamb; wild game—venison, boar, duck; roast chicken with vegetables; pork with mustard sauce; stuffed eggplant; pizza—topped with mushrooms, olives, Italian sausage; ratatouille; chili; grilled, roasted vegetables; fried fatty fish; barbecue—beef, pork. Cheese—goat cheese, chèvre, manchego, ossau-iraty; cheddar, comté, camembert. Avoid delicate cheeses that could be overwhelmed by the wine. $10-13
Ogier Héritages Côtes du Rhône Red 2022
Ogier harvest
Ogier barrel aging
Ogier winemaking
Email: wine@cwadv.com
Newsletter: gusclemens.substack.com
Website: Gus Clemens on Wine website
Facebook: facebook.com/GusClemensOnWine/posts/
Twitter (X): @gusclemens
Long form wine stories on Vocal: Gus Clemens on Vocal
Links worth exploring
Diary of a Serial Hostess Ins and outs of entertaining; witty anecdotes of life in the stylish lane.
As We Eat Multi-platform storytelling explores how food connects, defines, inspires.
Balanced Diet Original recipes, curated links about food systems, recipe reviews.
Re: survery, the best of all possible worlds.