Roussillière rabbit, viognier's for kids

Cuilleron 2001 “Roussillière” (Rhône) – From 500 ml and partially-fermented grapes. The problem with Cuilleron’s wines is that they’re overwhelmingly goopy, structure-free, and far too soup-like for their own good. Here’s a wine that goes ahead and admits its faults by intent, by leaving unfermented sugar in the wine. The result is far more pleasant than Cuilleron’s allegedly dry wines, and I think the sweetly floral nature of the raw material is ideally-suited for the dessert category. (9/09)

Virtual reality

Villard 2004 Condrieu Le Grand Vallon (Rhône) – Lush honeysuckle, peach blossom, plus pear and peach syrups. Long. Thick and slightly lurid, with a dry bite on the midpalate. There’s fair acidity, which is about all one can expect from most Condrieu these days. It gets better with air. Not up to Christophe Pichon’s standards, but pretty tasty. (4/06)