Northern Rhone Releases Around the Bay
Beltramo's, Menlo Park and San Francisco Wine Trading Company
Tasted Saturday, June 18, 2011 by drwine2001 with 613 views
Introduction
Combined notes on the reds from 2 tastings. I've ordered them roughly by the hierarchy of the appellations.
2009 Domaine Auguste Clape Côtes du Rhône
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
Inky. Intense blackberry and leather. Round but kept from seeming overripe by bright acids. Ripe tannins and a twist of anise at the end. Expensive for a Cotes du Rhone, but not so bad if you think of it as a mini-Cornas. Price aside, it is very, very good.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 Louis Barruol Crozes-Hermitage Tiercerolles
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
Deep purple. The smell of tannin, a bit of perfume, and mint. Full, rich, round attack. Forward, jammy blackberry fruit, spicy with good acidity and fine grained tannins. Clean and modern, but loosens and gains some complexity with time.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 Gilles Robin Crozes-Hermitage Cuvée Albéric Bouvet
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
Deep but not opaque. Fragrant with forest floor and herbal tones. Medium to full bodied. Fruit not as sweet as in the Barruol Crozes. Here, more obvious acid, tannin and grip-in short, more traditionally structured. Some floral notes emerge. Good.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 J.L. Chave Sélection Crozes-Hermitage Silène
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
Beautiful deep purple robe. Medium weight. Pure, crisp fruit with some olive. Very lively for this ripe vintage. Thumbs up on this one.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph
Saturated ruby. Smoky nose. Fairly monolithic blackberry confit with some finishing creosote. Adequate acidity, quite seamless with ripe, easygoing tannins, spicy finish. This has some classic elements but leans toward a more modern style.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 Pierre Gaillard Saint-Joseph Côte Belley
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph
Deep ruby. High pitched, redder fruit. Medium weight, seductive feel which I just love, and a good dose of earth. Elegant and has a long, savory finish. More so than any of the earlier wines, it strikes me as a typical French Syrah. Not inexpensive for the appellation but a winner nonetheless.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2007 J.L. Chave Sélection Saint-Joseph Offerus
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph
Medium ruby with lighter edge. More typical weight than the '09 Crozes. Nice inner mouth perfume, floral notes and smokiness. Savory and complex, very much in the Chave style. Pretty and delicate compared to most of the other wines today.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2008 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Saint-Joseph
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph
Medium color. All soil on the nose, in fact, much more so than anything else today. Medium weight, very accessible now. One gets the sense of slightly underripe fruit that holds up until the finish, where the flavor interest rapidly tails off. Not bad but certainly not worth it.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2007 Patrick & Christophe Bonnefond Côte-Rôtie Les Rochains
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Dark ruby. Some hydrogen sulfide but once you get by this, some florality. Nice texture. Similar weight to the Sorrel but ultimately, more harmonious. All green herbs, licorice and tobacco with a nice finish redolent of minerals and stone. Another authentic French Syrah with some persistent funkiness that you must accept to like this wine-at least that was the case with this bottle.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2009 Louis Barruol Côte-Rôtie Les Roses
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Impenetrable black color. Meaty aromatics with wintergreen overtones. A lusher, modern, extracted style with wood showing throughout, especially on the finish, where it shortens things. Lower acid and simpler than most other wines today, very fruit powered, but it does have a nice mintiness to it. Both of the Barruol wines had a similar house style that leaves little doubt about the type of big wine they are aspiring to make.
Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
2007 Marc Sorrel Hermitage
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Palest color of any wine today. Completely different nose-weedy, stemmy and peppery. Light, lean, high acid. Traditional style with enough flesh to carry. Very Nebbiolo-like. Lots of earth on end, finish is not great. Unmarked by wood. This is for food, not for show.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
2008 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Deep center. Much more berry-like fruit than in the St. Joseph. Subtle flavors, very seductive, ripe but no artificial sweetness. Terrific acidity, balance and complexity. A great accomplishment for the year; the step up in quality from the estate St. Joseph is remarkable. This should be an early drinking wine in Chave terms.
Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No