La Tablee: The Glory of Cote Rotie (Clusel Roch)
Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria
Tasted January 28, 2022 by MC2 Wines with 142 views
Introduction
Two years ago at La Tablee one of the producers that jumped out the most from me was Clusel Roch so I was happy to see this dinner come up. Very enjoyable evening. Great food at Il Buco and lots of nice wine.
Flight 1 - Pizza Bites (0 notes)
roasted mushrooms, smoked cabbage, sweet onions & mozzarella
Flight 2 - First Course (2 notes)
Fluke
oro blanco, shaved fennel & herb oil
Bloomsdale Spinach
roasted pear, point reyes blue & smoked almonds
White
2018 Clusel-Roch Condrieu Verchery
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Fresh and slightly sweet and honey. There's a roundness here that is well balanced with the acid. Very good acid to keep it balanced. The style that I tend to really like of this grape. Very balanced. Very nice.
White
2010 Clusel-Roch Condrieu Verchery
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Amazing how young this wine is. Doesn't seem like there's any age here. It's honeysuckle and lime and light and yet has a kindof lingering finish. Very enjoyable and very pretty.
Flight 3 - Second Course (4 notes)
Cavatelli
fennel sausage, bok choi, parmigiano & breadcrumbs
Red
2012 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie La Viallière
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Prob the wine of the flight which surprised me because this isn't really known as a great year. It's of course way too young but that precise and fresh style of wine that I associate with Clusel Roch is here in spades. Has the stuffing to be a great wine I think - just needs the age.
Red
2011 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie La Viallière
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Bit more funkiness here. I thought it was brett but it did seem to ease up with some more time in the glass. There's less precision and more animal here. It was served slightly cooler and that helped as did some time. The taste came around even if the nose always kept the funk.
Red
2010 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie La Viallière
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Darker fruits. Well made wine. Missing some of the zip and precision of the '12 but a good wine that will certainly be a lot better with some more time.
Red
2009 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie La Viallière
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Bigger wine than some of the others. More fruit. Dark and brooding in style. A bit more intensity and yet you can still see the push towards precision. Slightly higher alc. Overall though still a good wine. First vintage that Guillaume owned.
Flight 4 - Third Course (4 notes)
Seared Lamb Ribs
chickpeas, green garlic & breadcrumb
Charred Fioretto
labneh & meyer lemon
Red
2001 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Very fresh and bright and it almost seems a hint minty in style. Lots of minerality. Darker fruits. Well balanced. Drinks very well but I think more years continues to improve it.
Red
1999 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This is one of my favorite '99s that I've had. It's really lovely and elegant and you don't get the fact that this was a warm and sometimes bigger style year. Darker fruits and again lots of minerality. Drinks nicely.
Red
1998 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This was much bigger than the '99 or the '01. Darker and more brooding. There's still some hints of gravel and hints of green. Needs a lot more time. Very young wine.
Red
1995 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
The wine of the flight. Typically I'm the person where my favorite wine stays in the glass because I want to extend it out but somehow this wine just disappeared from my glass. It was a lovely wine though.
Flight 5 - Fourth Course (4 notes)
Charred Bavette
cauliflower mushroom & bulgur
Confit Yukon Potatoes
Roasted Honey Nut Squash
seasame & crisp onions
Red
1999 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Really lovely and nice to see the same elegance that the Les Grandes Places '99 had here as well. A bit of the mineral, a bit of the black fruits, drinking very nicely although certainly lots of life left.
Red
1991 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This was a very complete wine. More floral (almost a touch handsoap but not quite that level), lavender, well structured, very pretty. Still the black fruits. It's a nice wine in a good window.
Red
1988 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This is another beautiful wine. Still a bit youngish and perhaps one of the least ready of the group. Just a bit of game, a bit of black fruits, a bit of minerals. While not really ready it is still drinking well.
Red
1983 Clusel-Roch Côte-Rôtie
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
A bit less vibrant with a quicker finish than the rest of the wines in the flight which were mostly showing very well. This still has the fruit though. A good wine but perhaps not quite where the others are.
Closing
My takeaway is that Guillaume has really brought the wines up a level. I really enjoyed the 2018 that we had during the seminar and the 2012 had a similar level of elegance and precision. I think the older ones are still quite good (and really enjoyed the ones with more age), but it does seem like the style is evolving and the dark fruit and minerality is moving towards a greater precision which I really enjoy. Will continue to look out for these wines.
© 2003-24 CellarTracker! LLC.
