The 2010 Les Truffieres Grignan-Les-Adhemar is a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Syrah sourced from the newly renamed Grignan-Les-Adhemar AOC in the Rhone Valley, France. Grignan-Les-Adhemar is the northern most AOC in the Southern Rhone region. The Rhone Valley is separated into Northern Rhone (mainly Syrah based Red wines) and the Southern Rhone (Grenache based Red wines). Grignan-les-Adhemar was named Coteaux du Tricastin until 2010, the problem was that the Tricastin Nuclear power plant had an accident in 2008 and after the accident anything named Tricastin was avoided like the plague. I understand, 3 Mile Island Merlot probably would not sell well. Anyway, since Grignan-Les-Adhemar AOC wines have Public Relations problems they tend to be inexpensively priced. The Les Truffieres does not list a Domaine or Co-op on the label and since this bottle is a screw cap not a cork (the cork tells you if it is negociant wine or not), I am guessing this is a Negociant wine. A Negociant buys excess wine or grapes from a producer and labels the bottles themselves (selling the wine at a lower price than the original producer), without indicating who actually made the wine. The alcohol content is 13.5%.
The color is a dark, but see thru raspberry red with black highlights. The nose is plums, raspberry, spice drops candy and vanilla custard. This is a medium to light bodied, but full flavored wine. It tastes of blackberry, cassis, licorice and black cherry. The mid palate changes things up with strawberries in milk and a light Altoids spice. The tannins are there you can sense them, but they do not bite and the acidity is nicely balanced. The finish is reasonably full and long.
The 2010 Les Truffieres Grignan-Les-Adhemar is an interesting wine, it has the flavors of a Grenache/Syrah wine, but it feels more like a Pinot Noir or a Gamay. Dark, extracted flavors in the light refreshing wine. I found the Les Truffieres selling (Dobby’s Worldwide,Palatine,Il) for $7.99 (regular price, not on sale). The Rhone Vally just may be the absolute best region to find top quality inexpensive wines and The Les Truffieres Grignan-Les-Adhemar is just another example of a quality inexpensive Rhone Red wine.
