EAST COAST PALATE

A well-made Southern Rhone style red wine from Chateau Ste. Michelle.  This is the best wine I have ever tasted from them.

This bottle, Chateau Ste. Michelle's Orphelin blend threw me for a loop.  I had my sister pick a bottle out of my growing collection and pour me a glass.  Immediately when I lifted the wine toward my nose, I thought Malbec, and that dark plummy color and the prune and chocolate-covered cherries aromas had me thinking maybe Merlot, maybe Malbec.  The flavors were fruit driven with some spicy undertones.  I really liked the way the wine was in my mouth until a strange, bitter and metallic aftertaste crept in.  I was intrigued with this wine, and into my third glass, the interest is only growing.  I rate it a B+, but it pairs very nicely with Eva Cassidy's Live from Blues Alley album, which almost bumps it up to an A- wine. 
The blend on this Rhone style blend consists of a bunch of different grape varietals: Syrah, Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvedre, Cabernet Sauvignon, Pedit Verdot, Touriga, and Viognier.  It doesn't drink like a Cotes de Rhone or Chateauneuf de Pape, but it is a wine worth trying priced around $15.