A Survey of Allemand

Is Thierry Allemand one of the best winemakers in the world?

• 2012 Pierre Péters Champagne Grand Cru Cuvée Speciale Blanc de Blancs Les Chetillons 93 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  As far as young Chetillons goes, this is fairly accessible and one of my favourites at release. The fruit is generous and round, and while there's a good amount of citrus on the nose and palate, there's also some broader orchard fruit here. Very nice crispness; this has the breadth that I like in my champagne. But given that this is over the Taittinger Comtes price, I don't necessarily think that the value preposition is there.

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• 2001 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  The best showing of this that I've experienced. The nose is delineated and precise, with beautiful red fruit and a slight saline note. Versus the 2001 Reynard alongside, this was cleaner and lighter (whereas the Reynard has a darker fruit profile). The palate here is also lighter, with a brighter acidity and just a little more lifted. For my palate, I liked this bottle a hair more than the Reynard, which didn't seem as ready for drinking now.

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• 2001 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Pretty consistent with my previous note, this is a dark and burly rendition of Allemand. The nose initially has a little mushroom and stinky funk, but the purity of the black fruit starts shining through with some air. Versus the more red-toned 2001 Chaillot, I think this wine still has some ways to go as far as maturity; for drinking now, I preferred the Chaillot. In particular, this still feels a little clamped, with tannins that are still a touch grainy and not yet fully resolved. I reckon that this needs a few more years.

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• 2012 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 90 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  In a pretty solid lineup of Allemand, this was the proverbial runt. It's a little simple and just not particularly expressive at the moment. You get some of the Cornas juiciness, but not much of the complexity nor the perfume. I think this does have the correct amount of material, but this is a wine almost certainly caught at a very, very inopportune moment that I think will be able to develop very nicely with sufficient time. Versus the 2012 Reynard, this again had a brighter, red fruited profile but was also far simpler and just not as compelling.

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• 2012 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Versus the 2012 Chaillot, I liked this wine more, and I think the quality here is significantly higher too. Like most of the Reynards, this has a denser, blacker profile than its Chaillot littermate. Right now, there's still a bit of that primary juiciness that makes this feel a bit simplistic, but the amount of material here is far more clear than on the Chaillot. Like the Chaillot, we caught this at a very awkward moment of its life, though I am certain that with time, this will catch up in enjoyment.

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• 2004 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 98 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  I absolutely adore 2004 Rhones and this bottle is another case in point. Just fully resolved and almost certainly at peak. The nose has a slight hint of pyrazine, but also an incredible syrah saline perfume that I don't think any other bottles tonight had. We didn't have the 2004 Chaillot to compare, but this is a rendition of Reynard that I thought veered a little atypically to the red side of the spectrum. The palate's texture is where this really shines for me -- it's pure silk. For my palate, at peak now -- I could see pushing the aging on this for a few more years, but I like retaining a good amount of fruit still.

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• 2011 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  This had the unfortunate experience of being served alongside the 2004 Reynard, and the awkwardness of youth shows on this wine. There's a pronounced pyrazine element here, but it's more of a herbaceous green than a green bell pepper sort of thing. Just like the 2004 though, there's a svelte, elegant disposition that is a little atypical in Reynard (which I find a little denser and burlier). To be sure, I'm under no illusion that now is the correct time to open this, but it's enlightening to catch a glimpse of this as it matures. I think in the longer term, this will become something similar to the incredible 2004.

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• 2010 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  I think Chaillot tends to be a better wine in the riper vintages, and with the 2010 side by side, this certainly holds true. There's certainly a very primary, juicy quality to the fruit here, and while this is slightly darker than the customary red fruit of Chaillot, there's still a bit more of an acidic lift to render this an exceptionally drinkable wine, especially right now. This bottle really demonstrates the silky style of Allemand; it's maddeningly elegant with loads of life still. I don't think this will have the longevity of the Reynard, but I certainly prefer drinking this right now.

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• 2010 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Versus the 2010 Chaillot, I think this may well be the better wine, even if it isn't drinking as well right now. There's a bit of a similarity with the 2005 Reynard (which I had last year) in that this is kind of blocky and dense, but in general this seems to be less heavy-handed, if you can ever use that adjective to describe Allemand. This isn't as black-fruited and dense as I would have expected, and it's a little more open than my expectation as well. In general though, this is a massively scaled wine that has a very long life ahead of it.

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• 2009 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  I think I liked this more than quite a few at the table. This is as hedonistic as it comes for Allemand. The fruit is incredibly ripe and potent, with an opulence that no other wine seemed to have. It's more polished than any of the other wines too; there's no sense of rusticity about this. The fruit is plentiful, sweet, and black, but the palate still maintains that incredibly silky texture that Allemand always seems to nail. Still quite juicy and maybe even a bit primary, though the age definitely shows next to the 2016 Chaillot.

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• 2016 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  This feels a little more typical for a red-fruited vintage Chaillot. The nose here is all perfumed red fruit. There's a nascent hint of pepper but the primary syrah purple juiciness is here in spades. On the palate, this isn't as complex as I remember the 2015 Chaillot to be; there isn't quite the same layered quality as the 2015, but without a doubt, this is a wine with some serious stuffing and a lot of potential. This is a really large-scaled wine in terms of material and complexity, but the bright 2016 acidity helps keep this shapely. This is an excellent wine in the making.

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• 2008 Dom Pérignon Champagne 95 Points

  France, Champagne

  Twice in a fortnight (and from the same supermarket chain)? Lucky me. What's more to say about this wine? It's the greatest Dom made in my lifetime, and easily one of the greatest champagne values imaginable. This does show a little white grapey right now, but all the expected material is here. It's a dense, powerful wine with just a hint of the Dom reduction. One for the ages, no doubt.

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