There are three cuvees of Rasteau, all of them outstanding. The dark ruby/purple-hued 2007 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Rasteau Cuvee Prestige possesses a velvety personality crammed with kirsch liqueur, blackberry, charcoal, and chocolate characteristics. Spicy, full-bodied, pure, and remarkably supple and approachable for a young Rasteau, it should be drunk over the next 10-12 years. Few vignerons are more interesting to visit than Domaine La Soumade’s Andre Romero, whose wines are longtime reference points for the wines of Rasteau, a village with some incredible terroirs as well as a high percentage of old vine Grenache. Romero makes a bevy of Vin de Pays offerings, but his finest cuvees are his Cotes du Rhone and Rasteau wines. He also produces a small amount of Gigondas. Readers who don’t think Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon can do well in the Mistral winds and dry heat of the southern Rhone should check out Soumade’s offerings. St.-Emilion’s guru, Stephane Derenoncourt is the consulting winemaker, which may help explain why these wines are so good.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

The 2006 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Rasteau Cuvee Prestige exhibits beautiful notes of black cherries, lavender, bouquet garni, pepper, and white chocolate. Ripe, medium to full-bodied, long, and already drinking well, it should keep for at least a decade. Few vignerons are more interesting to visit than Domaine La Soumade’s Andre Romero, whose wines are longtime reference points for the wines of Rasteau, a village with some incredible terroirs as well as a high percentage of old vine Grenache. Romero makes a bevy of Vin de Pays offerings, but his finest cuvees are his Cotes du Rhone and Rasteau wines. He also produces a small amount of Gigondas. Readers who don’t think Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon can do well in the Mistral winds and dry heat of the southern Rhone should check out Soumade’s offerings. St.-Emilion’s guru, Stephane Derenoncourt is the consulting winemaker, which may help explain why these wines are so good.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

Domaine La Soumade produced tannic, backward wines in 2005, which can be seen in the 2005 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Rasteau Cuvee Prestige. It reveals a dark purple color, huge tannin, a muscular, masculine style, and black fruits galore, but one has to fight through the tannins and higher than normal acidity to access the fruit. This is among the most tannic wines Romero has produced, but the top cuvees possess enough concentration to balance out the structural components. Give it 3-4 years of cellaring, keep your fingers crossed, and drink it over the following 15 years. Andre Romero continues to turn out an impressive portfolio of wines. Several of his vin de pays fly under most consumer’s radar as one does not generally associate Bordeaux varietals with the southern Rhone. 2006 was a very good vintage for Romero, a notoriously late harvester.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565.