Chateau Simone Palette Rouge 2019

  Palette Rouge 2019 Chateau SimoneProvence, France$66.99 on 3+$71.99 regThe red Palette from Chateau Simone is a field blend of most of the varieties you see in the South of France (Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Morvedre). Deep ruby-hued, the rouge is very consistent vintage to vintage. Never over-done, the wine shows perfect balance, density and freshness. The aroma and palate show excellent complexity, robust with red and dark red fruits, with the textbook garrigue notes from the wild scrub that defines that Provence landscape. Structure in their youth, the tension from the tannin relax at about age 5-6 in bottle and can age for 20 years easy.Those of you who know Simone realize that the red, a tenacious but ultimately elegant wine, is an equal, rather than dominant, partner to the striking rosé and the sublime white. Like the rosé, it is a blend primarily of Grenache, Mourvèdre and Cinsault but there are pockets of old-growth vines of Syrah, Manosquin, Castet, Carignan, Cabernet Sauv