The closest comparison is the 2010, which was a pretty weak version. This is obviously incredibly young, having been released a few months back, but it lacks the wow factor of the 2008 and 2012. Right off the bat, it's a lot of white grape, some acidity, and a surprisingly plush white fruit quality, but it doesn't pick up much weight and concentration even with a few hours of air (unlike the 2013 Cristal alongside). Not worth the bump in tariff over the 2012 at all.
A very impressive Cristal -- at first very creamy and autolytic in the way that Cristal tends to be, but this actually got better and picked up a lot of weight over the course of the evening, becoming chewier with a very lovely, intense mineral profile. It shed a lot of the fat over the course of the evening and really that last few sips were the best of the bottle. I'm generally not very keen on the biscuity, creamy nature of Cristal, but this one really hit the spot, even if it was pretty underwhelming at the beginning.
Clearly a riper version of a Moreau wine, with a bit of stone fruit providing roundness here. Not much reduction to note here, this has an approachable palate showing a generous helping of fruit, but with sufficient acidity despite a touch of sweetness to hold things in balance. I've really liked 2018 white Burgundies and this bottle is no exception to that.
Served double blind. Clearly some oak here, but the fruit is clean and this is unmistakably syrah. The only question really was whose. Lighter than a Hermitage and Cornas, and missing the white pepper of St. Joseph, it was pretty obvious this had to be a Côte-Rôtie. The oak was judiciously applied even if ever-present, and that polished quality actually led me to guess Gerard. On the other hand, the light red fruit quality had me think this was a 2014 instead. Much better with air -- the oak wasn't as obtrusive (though it never really was in the first place). A wine that merits some extended time in the cellar.
Served double blind. No oak, so that narrows down the field quite a bit. Not distinctly stemmy either, but with a lovely perfumed quality. Obviously this was from a producer worth a damn, but I thought this was a Levet Côte-Rôtie for the dark fruit and spice character (perhaps a 2017 because it was slightly lighter?). Certainly this had a lot of weight and I think the combination of the vintage with Crozes gave you a wine that drank like a cooler year in a more heralded appellation. The fruit seemed to mask a lot of the whole cluster character as well, so I didn't pick that up.
Well, akshually, this is now called the Cuvée R, as I guess the INAO wised up to the shenanigans at the winery. Anyway. I dunno. It's a barrel sample. Lots of black fruit, but not to the same extent as the 2018 on release; this is more lithe and elegant. There's more lift and acid here, even though this features a tannic wall that clamps down hard starting at the midpalate. But the complexity, and more importantly, the silky texture of Allemand is here and it's abundantly clear that while this isn't drinking excitingly today, this is a textbook bottle of Allemand that should develop very nicely in the years to come. If I'm to throw a comparison out there, maybe a hypothetical mix of 2009 and 2010?
This was one of the whiffs tonight, though I am certain that it was a question of opening this at a very tough moment. The nose has plenty of dark fruit and comes off quite compelling, but the palate is where this really misses the mark, at least for right now. There's a hollowness there that doesn't really seem to match with the structure that this wine has. All that said, I'm not rushing to dump all my 2015 Reynard. I think this will be a fantastic wine when it finally gets around to it (as I had this on release and was quite impressed). It just might take another 15-20 years.
It's hard to ask more of a wine. This is everything syrah should be -- the nose is stunning and perfumed, with modest fruit notes and unmistakable salinity and olive brine. The palate is silky and resolved; this is the embodiment of Allemand silk. A very light touch to this, it feels very delicate for Allemand and that it's driven by its acidity makes this a very elegant, lithesome wine. An absolute stunner.
Another bottle that I think we caught at a bit of an inopportune moment. The fruit is distinctly red and light, with a perfumed, lifted quality to it. Clearly a more granitic edition of this wine, this shows more white pepper and bright red fruit, veering a bit towards St. Joseph in style. On the palate, this has more of a Cornas bent, with lots of tannin and structure that needs more time to resolve. The question in my mind here is whether or not the fruit will last until the structure resolves. For the 2015, I think that is indeed the case; I'm less certain here. This bottle wasn't the most showy today, and I think there's a few more years before this is ready for prime time.
I think the table's expectations were tempered because the 2011 Chaillot has long been a bit of a weird wine in the Allemand stable; this bottle surpassed those expectations. Nevertheless, this is clearly a lighter edition of the wine, and although there are no green notes, there are some herbal elements and a clear lightness on the palate. This is missing a lot of the classic syrah elements, and while texturally this is definitely Allemand, it just comes across as a relatively neutral wine right now.
I think I liked this a little more than most others. This is a heart-on-its-sleeve bottle of Reynard. The fruit is juicy and pure, but so open and expressive right now. Texturally, this of course has that Allemand silkiness, and the tannins seem quite resolved already. Somewhat easy to drink, but despite the ripe vintage, also quite delicate on the palate.
Drinks somewhat like the 2014 in the way the wine is resolved, even if the profile is nowhere the same. This is darker and shows a bit of leather and black fruit, and doesn't quite have the same olive/saline notes to it. On the other hand, I love the balance of red and black fruit here, and the way the tannins have resolved is fantastic. No off notes here -- just perfectly secondary characteristics in a perfectly mature bottle of Allemand.
I've not been super thrilled by this wine the last two times I've had it, and at first it felt like this bottle was going to be more of the same. Disjoint and almost all tannic structure with little fruit, this just didn't feel like it was anywhere up to the level of the other wines. But when we revisited this a few hours later, it seemed to have put itself together, and overall there was more integration and in fact some of the Allemand texture seemed to have started to emerge. The transformation was quite impressive, and I will be sure to give this bottle adequate air when I open one.
2013 Dom Pérignon Champagne 90 Points
France, Champagne
The closest comparison is the 2010, which was a pretty weak version. This is obviously incredibly young, having been released a few months back, but it lacks the wow factor of the 2008 and 2012. Right off the bat, it's a lot of white grape, some acidity, and a surprisingly plush white fruit quality, but it doesn't pick up much weight and concentration even with a few hours of air (unlike the 2013 Cristal alongside). Not worth the bump in tariff over the 2012 at all.
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2013 Louis Roederer Champagne Cristal Brut 95 Points
France, Champagne
A very impressive Cristal -- at first very creamy and autolytic in the way that Cristal tends to be, but this actually got better and picked up a lot of weight over the course of the evening, becoming chewier with a very lovely, intense mineral profile. It shed a lot of the fat over the course of the evening and really that last few sips were the best of the bottle. I'm generally not very keen on the biscuity, creamy nature of Cristal, but this one really hit the spot, even if it was pretty underwhelming at the beginning.
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2018 Domaine Bernard Moreau et Fils Meursault Charmes Dessus 93 Points
France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
Clearly a riper version of a Moreau wine, with a bit of stone fruit providing roundness here. Not much reduction to note here, this has an approachable palate showing a generous helping of fruit, but with sufficient acidity despite a touch of sweetness to hold things in balance. I've really liked 2018 white Burgundies and this bottle is no exception to that.
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2016 Xavier Gerard Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Served double blind. Clearly some oak here, but the fruit is clean and this is unmistakably syrah. The only question really was whose. Lighter than a Hermitage and Cornas, and missing the white pepper of St. Joseph, it was pretty obvious this had to be a Côte-Rôtie. The oak was judiciously applied even if ever-present, and that polished quality actually led me to guess Gerard. On the other hand, the light red fruit quality had me think this was a 2014 instead. Much better with air -- the oak wasn't as obtrusive (though it never really was in the first place). A wine that merits some extended time in the cellar.
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2018 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage La Guiraude 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
Served double blind. No oak, so that narrows down the field quite a bit. Not distinctly stemmy either, but with a lovely perfumed quality. Obviously this was from a producer worth a damn, but I thought this was a Levet Côte-Rôtie for the dark fruit and spice character (perhaps a 2017 because it was slightly lighter?). Certainly this had a lot of weight and I think the combination of the vintage with Crozes gave you a wine that drank like a cooler year in a more heralded appellation. The fruit seemed to mask a lot of the whole cluster character as well, so I didn't pick that up.
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2019 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Well, akshually, this is now called the Cuvée R, as I guess the INAO wised up to the shenanigans at the winery. Anyway. I dunno. It's a barrel sample. Lots of black fruit, but not to the same extent as the 2018 on release; this is more lithe and elegant. There's more lift and acid here, even though this features a tannic wall that clamps down hard starting at the midpalate. But the complexity, and more importantly, the silky texture of Allemand is here and it's abundantly clear that while this isn't drinking excitingly today, this is a textbook bottle of Allemand that should develop very nicely in the years to come. If I'm to throw a comparison out there, maybe a hypothetical mix of 2009 and 2010?
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2015 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
This was one of the whiffs tonight, though I am certain that it was a question of opening this at a very tough moment. The nose has plenty of dark fruit and comes off quite compelling, but the palate is where this really misses the mark, at least for right now. There's a hollowness there that doesn't really seem to match with the structure that this wine has. All that said, I'm not rushing to dump all my 2015 Reynard. I think this will be a fantastic wine when it finally gets around to it (as I had this on release and was quite impressed). It just might take another 15-20 years.
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2014 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 98 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
It's hard to ask more of a wine. This is everything syrah should be -- the nose is stunning and perfumed, with modest fruit notes and unmistakable salinity and olive brine. The palate is silky and resolved; this is the embodiment of Allemand silk. A very light touch to this, it feels very delicate for Allemand and that it's driven by its acidity makes this a very elegant, lithesome wine. An absolute stunner.
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2013 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Another bottle that I think we caught at a bit of an inopportune moment. The fruit is distinctly red and light, with a perfumed, lifted quality to it. Clearly a more granitic edition of this wine, this shows more white pepper and bright red fruit, veering a bit towards St. Joseph in style. On the palate, this has more of a Cornas bent, with lots of tannin and structure that needs more time to resolve. The question in my mind here is whether or not the fruit will last until the structure resolves. For the 2015, I think that is indeed the case; I'm less certain here. This bottle wasn't the most showy today, and I think there's a few more years before this is ready for prime time.
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2011 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 90 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
I think the table's expectations were tempered because the 2011 Chaillot has long been a bit of a weird wine in the Allemand stable; this bottle surpassed those expectations. Nevertheless, this is clearly a lighter edition of the wine, and although there are no green notes, there are some herbal elements and a clear lightness on the palate. This is missing a lot of the classic syrah elements, and while texturally this is definitely Allemand, it just comes across as a relatively neutral wine right now.
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2009 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 95 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
I think I liked this a little more than most others. This is a heart-on-its-sleeve bottle of Reynard. The fruit is juicy and pure, but so open and expressive right now. Texturally, this of course has that Allemand silkiness, and the tannins seem quite resolved already. Somewhat easy to drink, but despite the ripe vintage, also quite delicate on the palate.
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2006 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 95 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Drinks somewhat like the 2014 in the way the wine is resolved, even if the profile is nowhere the same. This is darker and shows a bit of leather and black fruit, and doesn't quite have the same olive/saline notes to it. On the other hand, I love the balance of red and black fruit here, and the way the tannins have resolved is fantastic. No off notes here -- just perfectly secondary characteristics in a perfectly mature bottle of Allemand.
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2005 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
I've not been super thrilled by this wine the last two times I've had it, and at first it felt like this bottle was going to be more of the same. Disjoint and almost all tannic structure with little fruit, this just didn't feel like it was anywhere up to the level of the other wines. But when we revisited this a few hours later, it seemed to have put itself together, and overall there was more integration and in fact some of the Allemand texture seemed to have started to emerge. The transformation was quite impressive, and I will be sure to give this bottle adequate air when I open one.
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