Boys night with a few bottles of Cornas and other treats.

Reno, NV
Tasted Monday, October 12, 2009 by markjanes with 628 views

Introduction

As fall approaches and the temperatures drop... long meals and red wines are starting to come to everyone's mind... time to get the boys together and cook and drink. Didn't spend enough time with the wines to give them numerical ratings.

Flight 1 - Wines to start the night. (3 Notes)

Spent the least amount of time with these wines...

Flight 2 - Served with Kubota bone in double cut chops, mashed taters, and glazed carrots. (6 Notes)

Dud of the night was easily the Robert Michel... I don't get this wine. Group favorite was the 00 Verset though good arguments were made for the 04 Clape and 00 Allemand Chaillot.

  • 2004 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    One of the better wines of the night, very young with a very strong aromatic presence… a very deep core of red and dark fruits with a very floral and pretty aspect… good meat and dense spice aromas, little of that tobacco leaf/green note. On the palate a texturally beautiful wine that has good acidity, a midpalate with plenty of depth, and a moderately firm and tannic finish. This is going to be a great Clape one day… “outstanding.”

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  • 2001 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    One of the weaker bottles of the night... dark and monolithic in nature... this wine lacks a lot of the things that make Cornas great IMO... finesse, florality, complexity of aromatics, freshness on the palate... this is a very firm wine that has never really shown true Cornas character compared to Clape, Verset, Allemand... the second day the wine had this awful caramel sweetness on the finish and hadn't opened up at all... my tasting notes on this wine have been very consistent over the years. "Below average" to "average" Cornas.

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  • 2000 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    One of the stronger wines of the night... a very classic Cornas nose of floral red fruits, meaty spices, very savory... not a lot of tobacco leaf like the Verset. On the palate this wine has less elegance and finesse than the Verset but is drinking much younger and less evolved... give this some time as there is plenty of depth of fruit and flavorl in there and the wine has structural elements, tannins and acids, to resolve. "Excellent" tonight with the potential to rate higher.

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  • 2000 Noël Verset Cornas

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    I've had the pleasure of drinking many bottles of this wine over the past 4 or 5 years and it never fails to impress... classic Verset with a very strong tobacco leaf aromatic... loads of spicy, floral, bright red fruits... a very fresh and well integrated wine of great finesse and fine texture... drinking at or near its peak... "outstanding" Cornas and a shame the estate no longer exists.

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  • 1997 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Kind of disappointing... the wine aromatically soars, especially with time in the decanter and has loads of classic Cornas aromas of meat, red fruits and, spices... on the palate this wine is off the charts acidic and firm and the finish seems a bit pinched and short. I don't know if this is the vintage or what... I haven't had a ton of 97 Cornas... I'm not so sure the textural issues of this wine will resolve with time or not but I would give the wine time (4 or 5 years ) or have with food. "Good" wine at best because of palate problems... so much aromatics and good depth of fruit though.

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  • 1995 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

    Odd wine tonight... out of the bottle the wine was singing with loads of tertiary, very complex aromatics... very firm on the palate. With time it shut down on us becoming less aromatic and very firm and hard on the finish. The next day after quite a bit of air time, the wine was still shut down aromatically and very hard and firm on the palate. Off bottle? Wine is a bad phase? This one was hard to call but based on this evening's performance I couldn't call it any more than "average."

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Flight 3 - Served with a couple of blue cheeses and coconut banana cream pie. (2 Notes)

The younger Rieussec was a spectacular match for the coconut banana cream pie (one of my favorite food and wine matches)... the savory aspect of the cheeses fared better with the cheeses... really good food and wine matches.

  • 2005 Château Rieussec

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    Aromatically intense Rieussec with loads of vanilla, tropical fruits, and oak barrique spices. As others have noted not a ton of botrytis or acidity here. Not going to be a long lived Rieussec, but will offer plenty of pleasure and always be a slightly soft and rather oaky wine. "Good" to "very good."

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  • 1975 Château Rieussec

    France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

    In comparison to the 2005, a very different animal altogether. The wine is intensely aromatic and offers wave after wave of aromatic complexity... tba like dried apricots and loads baking and other exotic spices... very earthy with beautiful saffron notes... on the palate this wine at 34 years of age has a bigger acidic presence than the 05... wonderfully aged wine... easily "outstanding" and pushing "extraordinary."

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Closing

A really fun tasting with a good vibe and plenty to discuss both in the world of wine and the world as it is.

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