Thursday night burgers begged for this Vin de pays Syrah.. For those unclear on Vin de pays, it’s simply a term used by the French to classify wine.  In the hierarchy of French wine regulation, it sits above Table Wine and below AOC.  There are a number of production rules that have to be met in order to classify a wine Vin de pays but you can google that yourself as I’m not going to put you to sleep here…

In the glass, this Rhone Red has a dark center that melds into lightening edges surrounded by a a good amount of translucence.

My first sniff reveals little but as I give it another try – it is raspberries scattered about on a dusty dirt floor.  A third smell pulls out a sort of lemony-citrus thing that I kind of dig…

Like a college graduate without a plan, the palate on this little guy takes a few seconds to find it’s way.  Aggressive chewing opens flavors of a lemon meringue pie smothered in a raspberry jam sauce. The consistency is bright yet pureed.  Mid palate is fleshy strawberry with a tarty ending that hangs on for a while and instigates smile…

This is definitely a value wine at $15ish a bottle but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t do the trick on a low-key Thursday night………..

2015 Charles Helfenbein “La Syrah” – Coteaux de L’ardeche FR

http://www.moonlightwineco.com/helfenbein-brezeme-rhone/