Northern Rhone Varietals
Fuel - Wilmette, IL
Tasted Thursday, May 24, 2012 by tooch with 677 views
Introduction
I think Bill and I conjured up tonights dinner while sipping Giacosa a couple nights before. He and I both share a love for Northern Rhone varietals, so we thought to open up some syrah in addition to some roussane and viognier. We had a great lineup tonight with some of the best wines I've ever had. Big thanks to Bill for "covering" me for the night and thanks to Tim, Gary and Keith for bringing great stuff too!
2006 A. Margaine Champagne Blanc de Blancs Special Club 91 Points
France, Champagne
Really beautiful notes of lime, white florals and subtle peach on the nose. The palate was sleek but expressive with beautiful floral and citrus tones. Should improve with age - will be a show-stopped someday.
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2010 Domaine Bernard Baudry Chinon Blanc La Croix Boissée 89 Points
France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
Let this slow ox for about 2 hours before drinking. Thought the banana peel and herb notes on the notes were more expansive than my first bottle. Should be noted that I pulled this out of my fridge when I started decanting and served it at around room temperature. An improvement ove my first bottle - still not super complex, but very nice.
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2008 Sine Qua Non Kolibri 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Barbara County
This tastes like french toast...and I love french toast. The Rhone blend has a big nose of cream, toffee, and apple cider. Certainly not traditional, but I found this really nice. Great length and depth - don't expect minerality.
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1999 Saint Cosme Côte-Rôtie 92 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Had some corkiness at first, but that blew off - was probably just Cote Rotie funk. Had lots of raw meats, dark fruits, and olive on the nose - very perfumed and dense. The palate was subtle at first, but with air it really took off. Beautifully resolved tones of smoked meat, lilacs, espresso and dark fruit. I thought this still had a good deal of life ahead of it.
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1999 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 98 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
An incredible bottle. Its aromas were rustic but had beautifully rich fruit layered on top of sous bois, leather and game. The palate was, for me, right in a sweet spot. While I love the rusticity of Northern Rhone syrah, I find that some can be too acidic, thin and uninteresting. This is just nuts. The palate was zippy with expressive red fruit, rustic tones of cured meats, olive, balsamic, lilacs, and dark fruit. Textbook syrah - probably the best syrah I've ever had.
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1999 Noël Verset Cornas 97 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
Drank alongside the 1999 Allemand Reynard. The Verset had a better nose than the Reynard - wonderful notes of meat drippings, olive, and earth. Thinking back, it was the earth of the Verset that set it a part. Its palate was a bit less expressive than the Reynard - but in no way bad! Awesome composition on the palate with lots of dark fruit, olive, cured meat and lilac. One of the best wines I've ever had.
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1999 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 94 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
A sleeping giant. This was the most reserved of the 1999 Cornas, but has the stuffing to compete with the Allemand and Verset. With air, the wine began to develop more of the earthy, meaty, floral tones that I was hoping for. The palate was just badass - great depth, structure and fruit. It seemed to just stare back at you daring you to second guess it (which I did from time-to-time). No question to all of us at the table that this will be a real showstopper with time. The good news? It's already great.
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1999 Eric Texier Hermitage 92 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Nose had beautiful red fruit, lots of damp earth and dried floral notes. I think this struggled being next to such heavyweights as the 1999 Allemand Reynard, Verset, and Clape. Its palate was beautiful with beautiful red fruit integrated with dried florals and mushroom tones. Wasn't as complex as some of the other wines, but still showed incredible depth and balance.
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2007 Sine Qua Non Syrah Labels
USA, California, Central Coast
Incredibly primary. Nose was pure licorice with some black fruit. Despite the heavy and monolithic nose, I thought the palate was more expressive. Nice lilac, cured meats and smoke notes - but just far too young to really gauge. Should be a lot of fun to drink in 10-12 years.
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1996 Kollwentz Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese 91 Points
Austria, Burgenland, Neusiedlersee-Hügelland
Tasted blind. Most at the table thought that this was a Alois Kracher....it had that tropical fruit, but lacked the acidity. Anyways, I thought its brown sugar, pineapple, and creme brulee notes were really nice. Yum.
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NV Burge Family Wilsford Old Sweet White 87 Points
Australia, South Australia, Barossa, Barossa Valley
19.2& alc - and, for me, I was able to get that all on the nose. With the heat there was some maple syrup, molasses, and nuttiness. The palate was far more balanced than I anticipated - nice vanillin, citrus, coffee, and nut notes. I'm not sure I'd drink this often, but it was good tasting it.
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