Boozy Brunch (Foreign Cinema & Noe Valley Wine & Spirits): This still feels relatively open. Definitely from a solar vintage: the fruit is dense and dark, but there is wonderful acidity that is mouthwatering and refreshes the palate. The tannins feel ripe, gentle, and are not particularly astringent. Lively and energetic. Very good.
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No one does it better. Open up front. Deep and dark in the back. Huge sweet bramble fruit- cassis, leather, meat, olive. Tannins are there, certainly young but not a wall. Consistent with a maker that is always expressive, always a wine of character. A beast in the making. Recommend 2/3 hour decant.
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Nez de fruits noirs, encens, olive noire... Very sappy black cherries, super silky tannin, roasted meat incense, black olives... A bit closed at this point, but a lot of potential ahead!
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Compared to the Iles Feray this had more stuffing and concentration of lovely fruit, but also felt a bit more closed. Give it some time, and this will be fun!
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Gonon tasting; 11/10/2023-12/10/2023 (Utregs Wijnhuis, Utrecht, NL): A bit closed at this moment, this clearly has more concentration than the Les Iles Feray (especially on the palate). Black fruit, bacon, olives, wet stone. Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, medium+ finish. 91-92+
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Dark but not inky like a Cornas. Big and beautiful nose from the start. Complex of broody fruits with olive tapenade, florals (violets) and smoke. Very good tension on the palate. Fresh wine. The fruit is just enough - not a voluptuous wine. It has a savoury quality. Sappy fruit. Very fine tannins. I was worried this would be very tannic and reticent but very pleased that it showed well at lunch today. I also appreciated the sommelier’s advice to not decant. There is a mineral note of iron running through the palate and finishes with a note of star anise. I concur with Josh Raynold’s impression of this wine (Vinous). Difficult to find at this price £127 - so this represented relatively great value to drink at Noble Rot Lamb's Conduit Street. Do not be afraid to open a bottle!
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Gorgeous nose of toasted aromas, blue fruits, olive, and violets. It’s softer on the palate than I expected with moderate energy and light tannins. Continued to develop with air though.
William Kelley often compares this to Halcon Alturas and I can totally see why. The Alturas has a similar flavor profiles, but often has more energy, intensity, and grippy tannins. Will be very interesting to see how both age comparatively.
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didn’t pick up much at the start besides dense purple fruits, and bit of game. If you got to pop one for a Gonon fix, give it a massive decant because I felt this blossomed with air and started showing itself. Plump red fruits and all that olive goodness.
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Same bottle as Derek. Here we go again, dark berries and loads of whole clusters just like the 2012. Clearly a much younger wine that needs much more bottle age but the house style is obvious. 91+.
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Northern Rhones at Min Jiang: My contribution, a last minute call-up from the bench. Agreed with those who said this tasted like a barrel sample. Dense, opaque blue fruit, drank like a classy Beaujolais. Needs a lot more time, merely a fruit bomb now.
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Northern Rhone theme dinner at Min Jiang Goodwood. Tasted blind. Drank in Grassl 1855. Appearance is clear, deep intensity, purple colour. Legs. Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of violets, black pepper, sweet spices, dark red cherries, black cherries. Feels very young and raw. Youthful. On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (13.5%), very smooth medium+ tannins, medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sweet violets potpourri, sweet spices, fruity black cherries, dark red cherries. Long finish. Very good quality. Just too youthful now with dominant fruits and sweet flavours. 5+ years at least.
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Off restaurant list, this bottle was rocking from pnp. Deep and expressive with wild bramble fruit, olives, and game. Much more expressive then bottle from last year. Hits all the buttons for me.
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1 année depuis ma bouteille précédente, bue pour notre Fête Nationale. Ouvert 1 heure puis bu durant 3. Violettes, framboises, poivre blanc et olives vertes au nez. Au palais, le vin est de corpulence moyenne, rond et tendu par un filet acide. Jolie finale croquante. Excellent dès maintenant mais je vais tenter de patienter pour mes autres bouteilles.
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PnP. ABV 13.5%. Time to have an early look, probably my last vintage of EP before getting completely shut out as the wine is pretty much in cult status these days with everybody jumping into the bandwagon, everyone and his dog want an allocation, good thing I loaded up many vintages before ‘20. Intense floral nose from get-go, plenty of flowers, incense, and stems. Bright acidity and vibrant. Fine tannins and not really showing much complexity yet, seems a bit light initially. Showing just slight warmth at backend. Not clumsy like ‘19 vintage but also not as good as ‘15 and ‘16 vintages. A lighter and ethereal style of Gonon, more like ‘11 vintage. If there is such a thing as Burgundian style of Syrah, this would be it. By the 2nd glass, this adds weight and complexity, showing better. Gonon is like the Armand Rousseau of Syrah Land, it just doesn’t screw up no matter good or bad vintage, even more consistent than my other favorite Syrah wine in Jamet. A poster child for AFWE. Explosive floral nose on the 2nd day, woah, you would be hard press to find a better nose anywhere in Northern Rhone. Also put on more weight and complexity, this may have a couple of points of upside from here, probably just as good as ‘15, only time will tell.
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At the estate, during our lucky annual barrel tasting, this one was the wine in bottles we had after the 2022 tasting.
To explain a bit, there area 4 main places where the Gonon Bro's are growing grapes. One is a bit south called les Oliviers, where the have the white as well. It gives a more fruity, dark berries, and fat, oily textured wined, with less acid, less complexity and less of the granite minerality one will find in the 3 others. Juts to add that area is where JL Chave has bought and planted much of his St Joseph too ... :)
One is situated at the Mauves area near the Berceau where Bernard Grippa does his eponym cuvée, and where the wine shows more granite and depth, with more grippy tannins, and some verticality. Less large wine than Oliviers.
One is les iles Feray or so where they have vines in the flat area on the other side of the road going to Tournon in the North. It does not go in the final blend.
One is the Saint Jean de Muzols vineyard where they have the Chasselas as well, this is a little more in altitude, with a circular orientation, from east to south, south/west... the Trollat vineyard is this one with older vines, some are more than 60/70 yo. Here they do two batches, or wines... which they blend anyway in the end, but still they separate the old vines from the younger.
I ll cut short on the 2022, as the wine is not blended yet, but it will be great ... again, no surprise.
Then, that 2020 is quite intense on the nose, M+ IOA, with spices, black pepper, cloves, and that really signature sooth, smoke, ashes style blended with dark fat ripe berries, blueberry, black berry... yummy
The palate is vibrant and really refined, with med acidity, med+ tannins, super velvety and integrated for such a "massive" wine. the balance is amazing, Pronounced intensity of flavors of ripe dark berries and that soothy finish... Very Long and yet amazingly easy to drink and integrated.
When aerating the wine in the palate the tannins dries a bit ... when drinking well ... not at all :)
Superb wine ... but there was way better again !
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Northern Rhone tasting (Utregs Wijnhuis, Utrecht, NL): Great potential, but quite restrained today, probably too little air. Cherry, black berry, black currant, bacon notes, black olives, licorice. With more time in the glass the aroma’s changed to more velvety black cherry and black fruit, clove. Medium acidity, medium+ tannins, long finish. Needs at least another 5 years based on tonights showing. 91++
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Opened and poured. Almost opaque center with lighter outer third. Spicy blueberry aromas. What this does not show on the nose is the intense florality that often marks Gonon’s reds. Medium to full bodied. Lush attack, full of fruit, but then cranberry acidity, moderate minerality, black licorice, and olive all poke through. The tannins are round but provide some back end grip. I look forward to revisiting this tomorrow.
The next day, the overt fruitiness had receded, and now it is more complex with pine needle, melted asphalt, bitter chocolate, and much more soil. The acidity is less strident and has more of a citrus peel quality. I am much more excited about where it is going after revisiting it after 24 hours of aeration. It seems more typical and less exotic at this point.
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Love popping one of these out the gate. On the austere side of recent releases. Soft brambly fruit, olives, not as expressive as 18 or 19. Fluctuates between lean and plush, flashing the magic but its not all there yet. Great length, showing soul. Needs time.
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Post Barolo with Bill & Crew: Blind. Herbal, violets, redcurrant, smoky and cherry notes on the nose. Savoury kick to the palate with plenty of bright acid flowing well across the good length. Very good, though value is no longer there.
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Superbe dès l'ouverture, violettes, tapenade d'olive, poivre blanc, grenadine jaillissent littéralement du verre! En bouche, attaque vive et précise, bien équilibré, pas trop d'alcool (13.5%), un filet d'acidité, allongé, bonne longueur. Moins opulent que sur d'autres millésimes, il se goûte ma foi déjà fort bien.
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A punchy/bunchy nose of dried flowers and smoke. It has menthol, black olive and raspberry notes too. It is mid-weight and nicely balanced. There's not the fruit intensity of the '19, but it drinks beautifully straight out of the gate and has reasonably relaxed structure. Delicious wine.
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Extremely tight - much, much too young. At this stage, quite manly, almost rustic, black olives galore, tar, rough tannins - leave this be for five years before trying it. #Bateau Ivre #Tain #Tour
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Nose of dark black olives, anchovies, dense and intense
Palate is full of energy and vibrant, long intense and fat... great wine again, from a ripe vintage, I believe from the trilogy of warmth 18/19/20 this might be the best balanced
Hope this helps :)
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4/27/2024 - ylkim30 Likes this wine:
Boozy Brunch (Foreign Cinema & Noe Valley Wine & Spirits): This still feels relatively open. Definitely from a solar vintage: the fruit is dense and dark, but there is wonderful acidity that is mouthwatering and refreshes the palate. The tannins feel ripe, gentle, and are not particularly astringent. Lively and energetic. Very good.
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4/19/2024 - The Guzz Likes this wine: 94 Points
No one does it better. Open up front. Deep and dark in the back. Huge sweet bramble fruit- cassis, leather, meat, olive. Tannins are there, certainly young but not a wall. Consistent with a maker that is always expressive, always a wine of character. A beast in the making. Recommend 2/3 hour decant.
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2/15/2024 - Philippe_C wrote: 95 Points
Nez de fruits noirs, encens, olive noire... Very sappy black cherries, super silky tannin, roasted meat incense, black olives... A bit closed at this point, but a lot of potential ahead!
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1/18/2024 - melvinyeowq wrote:
Pearl of Burgundy 2022 EP tasting: More concentrated and structured than the 2021, but needs more time to integrate.
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1/18/2024 - fcxj wrote: 92 Points
Fresh and balanced, delicious Rhone.
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11/11/2023 - Peter Spijker Likes this wine: 92 Points
Compared to the Iles Feray this had more stuffing and concentration of lovely fruit, but also felt a bit more closed. Give it some time, and this will be fun!
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11/10/2023 - ThijsV Likes this wine: 91 Points
Gonon tasting; 11/10/2023-12/10/2023 (Utregs Wijnhuis, Utrecht, NL): A bit closed at this moment, this clearly has more concentration than the Les Iles Feray (especially on the palate). Black fruit, bacon, olives, wet stone. Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, medium+ finish. 91-92+
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10/2/2023 - M.Y. Chong Likes this wine:
Dark but not inky like a Cornas.
Big and beautiful nose from the start. Complex of broody fruits with olive tapenade, florals (violets) and smoke.
Very good tension on the palate. Fresh wine. The fruit is just enough - not a voluptuous wine. It has a savoury quality. Sappy fruit.
Very fine tannins. I was worried this would be very tannic and reticent but very pleased that it showed well at lunch today. I also appreciated the sommelier’s advice to not decant.
There is a mineral note of iron running through the palate and finishes with a note of star anise.
I concur with Josh Raynold’s impression of this wine (Vinous).
Difficult to find at this price £127 - so this represented relatively great value to drink at Noble Rot Lamb's Conduit Street.
Do not be afraid to open a bottle!
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8/15/2023 - Satoshi Nakamoto Likes this wine: 92 Points
Gorgeous nose of toasted aromas, blue fruits, olive, and violets. It’s softer on the palate than I expected with moderate energy and light tannins. Continued to develop with air though.
William Kelley often compares this to Halcon Alturas and I can totally see why. The Alturas has a similar flavor profiles, but often has more energy, intensity, and grippy tannins. Will be very interesting to see how both age comparatively.
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8/14/2023 - wineton.mee wrote: 92 Points
didn’t pick up much at the start besides dense purple fruits, and bit of game. If you got to pop one for a Gonon fix, give it a massive decant because I felt this blossomed with air and started showing itself. Plump red fruits and all that olive goodness.
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8/12/2023 - pavel_p wrote: 91 Points
Same bottle as Derek. Here we go again, dark berries and loads of whole clusters just like the 2012. Clearly a much younger wine that needs much more bottle age but the house style is obvious. 91+.
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8/11/2023 - melvinyeowq wrote: 91 Points
Northern Rhones at Min Jiang: My contribution, a last minute call-up from the bench. Agreed with those who said this tasted like a barrel sample. Dense, opaque blue fruit, drank like a classy Beaujolais. Needs a lot more time, merely a fruit bomb now.
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8/11/2023 - Derek Darth Taster wrote: 92 Points
Northern Rhone theme dinner at Min Jiang Goodwood. Tasted blind. Drank in Grassl 1855.
Appearance is clear, deep intensity, purple colour. Legs.
Nose is clean, medium+ intensity, with aromas of violets, black pepper, sweet spices, dark red cherries, black cherries. Feels very young and raw. Youthful.
On the palate, dry, high acidity, medium alcohol (13.5%), very smooth medium+ tannins, medium+ body. Medium+ flavour intensity, with flavours of sweet violets potpourri, sweet spices, fruity black cherries, dark red cherries. Long finish.
Very good quality. Just too youthful now with dominant fruits and sweet flavours. 5+ years at least.
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8/11/2023 - The Guzz Likes this wine: 94 Points
Off restaurant list, this bottle was rocking from pnp. Deep and expressive with wild bramble fruit, olives, and game. Much more expressive then bottle from last year. Hits all the buttons for me.
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8/1/2023 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 94 Points
1 année depuis ma bouteille précédente, bue pour notre Fête Nationale.
Ouvert 1 heure puis bu durant 3.
Violettes, framboises, poivre blanc et olives vertes au nez.
Au palais, le vin est de corpulence moyenne, rond et tendu par un filet acide. Jolie finale croquante.
Excellent dès maintenant mais je vais tenter de patienter pour mes autres bouteilles.
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5/28/2023 - pclin wrote: 93 Points
PnP. ABV 13.5%. Time to have an early look, probably my last vintage of EP before getting completely shut out as the wine is pretty much in cult status these days with everybody jumping into the bandwagon, everyone and his dog want an allocation, good thing I loaded up many vintages before ‘20. Intense floral nose from get-go, plenty of flowers, incense, and stems. Bright acidity and vibrant. Fine tannins and not really showing much complexity yet, seems a bit light initially. Showing just slight warmth at backend. Not clumsy like ‘19 vintage but also not as good as ‘15 and ‘16 vintages. A lighter and ethereal style of Gonon, more like ‘11 vintage. If there is such a thing as Burgundian style of Syrah, this would be it. By the 2nd glass, this adds weight and complexity, showing better. Gonon is like the Armand Rousseau of Syrah Land, it just doesn’t screw up no matter good or bad vintage, even more consistent than my other favorite Syrah wine in Jamet. A poster child for AFWE. Explosive floral nose on the 2nd day, woah, you would be hard press to find a better nose anywhere in Northern Rhone. Also put on more weight and complexity, this may have a couple of points of upside from here, probably just as good as ‘15, only time will tell.
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2/21/2023 - Stanrocks Likes this wine: 93 Points
93/95
At the estate, during our lucky annual barrel tasting, this one was the wine in bottles we had after the 2022 tasting.
To explain a bit, there area 4 main places where the Gonon Bro's are growing grapes. One is a bit south called les Oliviers, where the have the white as well. It gives a more fruity, dark berries, and fat, oily textured wined, with less acid, less complexity and less of the granite minerality one will find in the 3 others. Juts to add that area is where JL Chave has bought and planted much of his St Joseph too ... :)
One is situated at the Mauves area near the Berceau where Bernard Grippa does his eponym cuvée, and where the wine shows more granite and depth, with more grippy tannins, and some verticality. Less large wine than Oliviers.
One is les iles Feray or so where they have vines in the flat area on the other side of the road going to Tournon in the North. It does not go in the final blend.
One is the Saint Jean de Muzols vineyard where they have the Chasselas as well, this is a little more in altitude, with a circular orientation, from east to south, south/west... the Trollat vineyard is this one with older vines, some are more than 60/70 yo. Here they do two batches, or wines... which they blend anyway in the end, but still they separate the old vines from the younger.
I ll cut short on the 2022, as the wine is not blended yet, but it will be great ... again, no surprise.
Then, that 2020 is quite intense on the nose, M+ IOA, with spices, black pepper, cloves, and that really signature sooth, smoke, ashes style blended with dark fat ripe berries, blueberry, black berry... yummy
The palate is vibrant and really refined, with med acidity, med+ tannins, super velvety and integrated for such a "massive" wine. the balance is amazing, Pronounced intensity of flavors of ripe dark berries and that soothy finish... Very Long and yet amazingly easy to drink and integrated.
When aerating the wine in the palate the tannins dries a bit ... when drinking well ... not at all :)
Superb wine ... but there was way better again !
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2/13/2023 - bjbu Likes this wine: 90 Points
Northern Rhone tasting (Utregs Wijnhuis): Intensity medium. Cherry, blackberry, blueberry, bacon. Acidity medium. Tannins medium(+). Finish medium.
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2/13/2023 - ThijsV Likes this wine: 91 Points
Northern Rhone tasting (Utregs Wijnhuis, Utrecht, NL): Great potential, but quite restrained today, probably too little air. Cherry, black berry, black currant, bacon notes, black olives, licorice. With more time in the glass the aroma’s changed to more velvety black cherry and black fruit, clove. Medium acidity, medium+ tannins, long finish. Needs at least another 5 years based on tonights showing. 91++
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12/8/2022 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Already super tasty, nice acidity and fruit, really good stuff.
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11/1/2022 - drwine2001 wrote:
Opened and poured. Almost opaque center with lighter outer third. Spicy blueberry aromas. What this does not show on the nose is the intense florality that often marks Gonon’s reds. Medium to full bodied. Lush attack, full of fruit, but then cranberry acidity, moderate minerality, black licorice, and olive all poke through. The tannins are round but provide some back end grip. I look forward to revisiting this tomorrow.
The next day, the overt fruitiness had receded, and now it is more complex with pine needle, melted asphalt, bitter chocolate, and much more soil. The acidity is less strident and has more of a citrus peel quality. I am much more excited about where it is going after revisiting it after 24 hours of aeration. It seems more typical and less exotic at this point.
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9/7/2022 - The Guzz wrote: 92 Points
Love popping one of these out the gate. On the austere side of recent releases. Soft brambly fruit, olives, not as expressive as 18 or 19. Fluctuates between lean and plush, flashing the magic but its not all there yet. Great length, showing soul. Needs time.
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8/11/2022 - CamWheeler wrote: 91 Points
Post Barolo with Bill & Crew: Blind. Herbal, violets, redcurrant, smoky and cherry notes on the nose. Savoury kick to the palate with plenty of bright acid flowing well across the good length. Very good, though value is no longer there.
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8/8/2022 - Ericsson Likes this wine: 94 Points
Superbe dès l'ouverture, violettes, tapenade d'olive, poivre blanc, grenadine jaillissent littéralement du verre! En bouche, attaque vive et précise, bien équilibré, pas trop d'alcool (13.5%), un filet d'acidité, allongé, bonne longueur.
Moins opulent que sur d'autres millésimes, il se goûte ma foi déjà fort bien.
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8/3/2022 - Jeremy Holmes wrote:
A punchy/bunchy nose of dried flowers and smoke. It has menthol, black olive and raspberry notes too. It is mid-weight and nicely balanced. There's not the fruit intensity of the '19, but it drinks beautifully straight out of the gate and has reasonably relaxed structure. Delicious wine.
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6/1/2022 - beatles wrote: 92 Points
Extremely tight - much, much too young. At this stage, quite manly, almost rustic, black olives galore, tar, rough tannins - leave this be for five years before trying it.
#Bateau Ivre #Tain #Tour
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12/15/2021 - Stanrocks Likes this wine: 92 Points
Tastes at the estate from barrels
Nose of dark black olives, anchovies, dense and intense
Palate is full of energy and vibrant, long intense and fat... great wine again, from a ripe vintage, I believe from the trilogy of warmth 18/19/20 this might be the best balanced
Hope this helps :)
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