Alary comes top in Decanter tasting

Decanter’s December issue includes a blind tasting of named Cotes du Rhone villages…the 18 villages that have the right to show their name on the label and that sit within the aoc heirarchy between Cotes du Rhone villages – no name – and the Crus of Gigondas etc. I was delighted to see that Domaine Alary at Cairanne, one of the domaines in our tour portfolio, came out as the most highly scored wine in a field of 100+ wines. Congratulations Denis….much deserved. The slightly odd feature of the article to my mind was the comment that the tasting revealed many disappointing wines: “Cairanne was the biggest disappointment” commented taster Andrew Shaw the wine buyer at Waitrose. Yet when I look at the wines showed it seems incredible that most of the stars of the commune were not represented…where were Oratoire St. Martin, L’Ameillaud, Rabasse-Charavin and Marcel Richaud for example? A tasting without these present just isnt go to do it justice…perhaps Decanter should consult with those here on the ground that drink these wines everyday