An Evening in the Northern Rhone Valley: Westchester Wine School

2nd tasting of the Fall season, and a very interesting lineup of wines

• 2012 Domaine Louis Cheze St. Joseph Blanc Cuvée Ro-Rée 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting alongside 2 other Rhone whites. Medium gold color. Fairly generous nose of honeysuckle & some floral notes. Medium to full bodied. Viscous, round & a bit on the oily side with very nice mouthfeel, appropriate acidity level, a bit fruit forward with citrus notes and some spice. A very pleasant, round, fairly complex & big-bodied wine that got our tasting off to a very nice beginning.

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• 2012 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Blanc 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage

  1 of 3 whites drunk at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Pale straw coloring. Light to medium bodied, and very different in weight from the other 2 whites tasted alongside. I couldn't get much from the nose: some slight citrus & perhaps some tropical fruit. Bone dry, more of the mineral than fruit family here. My enjoyment of this wine increased as it sat in the glass. Its stony, flinty, & briny qualities came to the fore which I found very interesting & enjoyable. This wine would go great with oysters, clams, and the like.

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• 2011 Clusel-Roch Condrieu Verchery 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  1 of 3 whites opened to commence our WWS N.Rhone tasting & though all were enjoyable & distinctive in their own ways, this was my favorite by the slightest of margins. Medium gold color. Fairly fragrant nose that opened up a bit in glass--some floral notes, and increasing scent of pear. On the palate, subtle notes outfield honey, some spice & melon along with some tropical fruit. Very nice freshness to this wine. Slightly sweet finish, and likely the hottest of the 3. Not what I would call a top notch condrieu but still quite enjoyable in its own right, & far superior to any viognier coming from anywhere else in the world.

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• 2012 Domaine Vincent Paris Cornas Granit 30 88 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Purplish-red color, no signs of bricking. Generous nose of dark fruits & spice. Fairly fruit-forward, not particularly tannic, some vegetal notes along with green olives, earth and perhaps tar. I picked up some sulfur notes too. Fairly short, bitter finish. More or less a simplistic wine that I didn't much care for

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• 2005 Noël Verset Cornas 88 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Cloudy appearance, seems older than it is. Funky nose of tar, earth and mushrooms. Fruit has faded, leaving a metallic taste, with lots of iron here. Short finish too. This wine has seen better days and is old beyond its years, perhaps due to the way it was stored? Ned was hyping this wine somewhat, but I don't get it.

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• 2005 Alain Verset Cornas 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting alongside a 2005 Noel Verset. Dark ruby coloring, with no apparent signs of age. Green pepper and olives on the nose. Nice dark fruit on the palate, along with leather, earth and some green pepper notes. Earthy too, but nicely balanced by a decent fruit level. Much more youthful than the other Verset, and in a much better place.

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• 1998 Domaine Courbis Cornas Champelrose 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. I supplied this bottle for the tasting as I still have many in the cellar, I've been tasting it regularly of late & it generally appears to be fading. Nice color tonite, medium red, with very slight bricking & seemed to be much better preserved than previous bottles. Fairly reticent nose of dark fruits, some earth, some mushroom. On the palate, fairly sweet fruit with pepper, and the expected earthy tones, but much more in balance than expected, or than I've experienced with this wine. Far fruitier & fresher than any other bottles I've had, making for quite the pleasant surprise. Not an overly complex or particularly memorable pour, but this was by far the best tasting of this wine that I've had.

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• 1999 Patrick Lesec Cornas Cuvée Sarah 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. My contribution. Purplish-red core with browning apparent at the edges. Black fruit on the nose, along with scents of leather & meat. On the palate, medium weight tannins still apparent but not interfering with my enjoyment of the wine. Great depthness of fruit here, along with green peppers, leather, tar & olives. Very round, rich mouthfeel, along with excellent complexity and length. This was a great bottle that was no doubt owing to the richness of the stellar '99 vintage in the N.Rhone. Other than the 2 hermitages we had later in the tasting, this was by far the best WOTN. Excellent Cornas!

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• 2007 J.L. Chave Sélection St. Joseph Offerus 87 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Feint nose with some black fruit notes and pepper. Medium bodied, very sour cherries on the palate, fairly tannic with some pepper & leather. Not much of a finish, nor much complexity, and thin. Didn't love this wine

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• 2012 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Purplish-garnet color showing no age. Medium bodied with substantial, bold tannins. Not a lot of fruit here. Instead, a bit spicy with lots of green pepper, leather, earth & tar notes. A nice enough wine, if a bit on the young side and not particularly balanced. Decent finish, if a bit sweet on the back end.

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• 2004 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Côte-Rôtie Les Jumelles 91 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Generous nose of red berries earth & mushrooms, ruby center with a bit of bricking. Sweet red fruit on the palate, soft tannins, pleasant round mouthfeel. Lots of earth, green peppers and minerals here, but also decent fruit level. Nicely balanced, tasty wine, if slightly thin. Enjoyable.

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• 1998 Jean-Michel Stephan Côte-Rôtie 85 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Funky, off-putting nose, with ammonia & menthol that just turned me off. Seemed to me the wine was oxidized. I couldn't drink this wine, though some disagreed and actually enjoyed it. Vive le'differance!

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• 1999 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting. Purplish-garnet color with slight bricking. Very aromatic nose of sweet fruit (red berries & cherries) with perhaps some slight meaty overtones. Lush, sweet red berries hit you up-front. Some green pepper & leather too, but this wine is in the fruit, rather than the earthy family. This bottle was quite interesting in that I've had this wine twice before over the past 18 months with very different findings: the previous bottles were mostly about tertiary, earthy elements with much less fruit apparent. This modern-style bottle was perhaps an anomaly and just aged far more slowly than the others...to be revisited in the future

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• 2006 Tardieu-Laurent Hermitage 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting and shared honors as WOTN with another hermitage. Purplish-deep red color, no signs of age whatsoever (as opposed to the 1999 Jaboulet Hermitage drunk alongside which looked its age). Sour black cherries on the nose, some licorice perhaps and smoke--the nose opened up quite a bit as the wine sat in glass. A fairly full-bodied wine (bigger than the 99), lots of sweet fruit here, along with earth, tar and green peppers. Fairly well-concentrated with depth, balance and a long finish. This wine is still very much on the young side but was fairly well approachable. I wouldn't touch this again for at least a few more years as it will no doubt be an even better wine at that time. Still, very enjoyable on this occasion.

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• 1999 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Drank at WWS N.Rhone tasting matched up against a 2006 Tardieu Laurent Hermitage. Made for a very interesting comparison & a great way to end the tasting with the 2 best WOTNs. The wine has mature look with a deep ruby core & fairly substantial bricking at edges. Generous funky nose of sweet fruit, barnyard, tar & leather that got better and better in the glass. Mostly soft, somewhat resolved tannins, lots of sweet fruit, nicely balanced and well integrated with various tertiary elements in the wine: lots of green pepper, earth, leather, meat, some tar. Excellent length too. A very elegant, but earthy & savory wine that is singing right now. Surprisingly fresh & youthful. If I were to quibble, the wine is a bit thin, especially at the back end--otherwise I would have scored it much higher. I'll be drinking this over the next 5-10 years likely.

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Not an easy tasting in that these wines are not overly expressive by nature, and also they're not commonly consumed by the general public. (I don't drink them too often myself). Still, a very enjoyable nite and some interesting wines for sure. Ned is the man!