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Christophe Coste, the winemaker

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, Christophe has had a meteoric decade, from newcomer fresh out of college to president of his local syndicate (Signargues - and he was one of the reasons why this village was promoted in the first place), father of two and winemaker extraordinaire.

Whilst his Cotes du Rhone remains one of our very best sellers (it is, perhaps, the most versatile wine on the list - we have enjoyed it with seafood, curry and everything in between) and his new Chateauneuf is heading for the top table, the wines in between can get overlooked. A foolish thing to do.

Tonight, I am opening the 2007 CDR Villages "Cayenne" which could easily pass for an oaked Gigondas at around twice the price. That said, it has much more black raspberry character than many I tasted on my recent visit to the Caveau des Vignerons in Gigondas. It's bursting with fruit and has a nice layer of oak lurking in the background. This will become even more integrated in time but I doubt the wine will stay on the shelves much longer!

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