03 Domaine de la Solitude, Cotes du Rhone

So clean for a wine so young. Medicinal cherry fruit with plums and raspberries emerging. Some heat on the nose, this almost feels like California and, while it doesn't have too much depth or concentration, it's more than the simple fruit of most Cotes du Rhone. Midpalate dies. Peppery pork fat and lamb dare to show themselves, especially on the nose, before Solitude remembers that this is just a basic Rhone. It needs another year for the alcohol to calm down, but the tannins are light, the acid moderate to high, the wine a simple joy.