Hump Day: Côtes du Rhône

I think by now you know how The Hub and I feel about California wines.  We love them.  We're going to miss their accessibility here in San Francisco.  I probably shouldn't be saying this....but we struggle with French wines.  I just never can seem to find one that I love as much as a bold, spicy California red.  I think the hardest part for me, is that picking out a French wine is a completely different process as they are set up by region, not winery.  And within each region are smaller regions or apellations.  Whew!  It's a lot of little areas to keep track of and I have a hard time remembering which ones I like.  But we are learning. 

And in the spirit of learning, we tried a few French wines during our Coq au Vin feast with with Shawn and Kate. 

Both of these wines were great, but I was very surprised at how much I enjoyed the one on the left - the 2007 Domaine Andezon Côtes du Rhône - that we got through our K&L Best Buy Wine Club membership.  Typically, wines from the Rhône Valley are not my favorite, but this one had a great deep ruby color and spicy flavor - right up my alley!  Apparently the Andezon is a project of a U.S. importer and a co-operative called Vignerons d'Estezargues, which is located just south of Avignon, France in the Rhône Valley.  I looked it up on Google Maps and whaddya know - it's about an hour from our new home of Montpellier.  Maybe we'll go visit someday soon.