A private tasting and dinner

A paulée tasting and dinner with wines from the Northern Rhône. There were six of us around the table: Arjen, Angela, Robert, Peter, Ingmar and I. The preponderance of Chapoutier wines was a coincidence - in the sense that nothing been agreed in advance apart from the quality level of the wines in general. The overall quality of the wines was extremely high and made for a most instructive and fun evening.

• NV Fallet-Prévostat Champagne Grand Cru Non Dosé 91 Points

  France, Champagne, Champagne Grand Cru

  Identical to my previous note. Elegant and distinctive.

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• 2009 André Perret Condrieu Chery 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu

  Wonderfully aromatic nose, rich, pure and deep, flowers, minerals and apricot; big and rich palate with just a touch of heat, velvety texture, soft but no lack of acidity, intensely flavoured; good length. Beautiful Condrieu to enjoy in its luscious youth.

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• 2007 Les Vins de Vienne Taburnum 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes

  100% Viognier, 18 months on oak. Subtle but fragrant nose, almost Riesling-like initially, opens up beautifully to apricot and heather; elegant and gentle palate, slightly honeyed flavours, waxy and floral, lively, wonderful oak integration; good length. A very stylish wine.

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• 2000 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Full yellow colour; deep and honeyed nose, candied fruit, oxidative notes but not oxidised, minerals and butter; big and round palate, low acidity, comes across as a bit clumsy, paradoxically also seems to lack a bit of stuffing; for such a big wine the length is merely decent. Not my favourite style of white Hermitage.

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• 2004 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Rich but fresh, much better balance and energy than the big 2000, honeysuckle, salted butter and minerals, a very concentrated wine with the elegance of a cooler vintage; excellent length and depth. Continues to improve throughout the evening. Great potential.

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• 1999 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage Blanc Chevalier de Sterimberg 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Massive bottle variation with this wine. This was a good bottle that needed some time to open up in the glass; much fresher styler than the Chapoutier Méal wines, nose of citrus and apple, minerals; on the palate relatively light too, tight but energetic and with a lovely freshness and vibrancy; great length.

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• 1999 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Blanc Le Méal 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Exotic nose of cloves and other spices; on the palate very complete, a lovely balance between richness, age, freshness and flavour; very good intensity and length. Really impressive and improves greatly with aeration.

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• 1995 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Double decanted for 1 hour. Mature appearance; there is a dusty aspect to the nose, notes of leather and blood but opens up to aromas of bacon and violets, just a hint of nuttiness; on the palate quite tannic and masculine, wonderful depth and complexity of flavour, has power, energy and weight; very good, powdery length. Well-constructed and will last but does not have the feminine charm I associate with Côte-Rôtie. Much better than my previous bottle.

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• 1995 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Château d'Ampuis 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Wonderfully aromatic, bacon and violets, pungent and peppery, perfect oak integration; elegant and flavoursome, concentrated but light on its feet, hint of tar, lovely freshness, good tannic backbone. Incredibly young and lively; tasting blind I would have sworn this was the 2004 or possibly the 2001 but I would never have believed this was an 18 year old wine.

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• 1999 M. Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie La Mordorée 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Double decanted for one hour. An amazing combination of depth and fragrance, still not showing much of itself. Tasting this wine is a bit like staring into an abyss; an essence of vineyard and vintage in a very masculine way, tannic and rich but with the unimitable Côte-Rôtie character. Revisit in 5 years; to wait 10 years would probably be even better.

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• 1998 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 96 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Amazing depth and expression on the nose, the purest Syrah, pepper and other spices, wonderful ripe fruit, fabulous quality of spicy new oak, needs time to integrate; brilliant minerally energy, develops chocolate and mocha notes; outstanding length. Incredibly youthful, tasting blind I guessed 2005. Needs another ten years and will last almost indefinitely.

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• 1997 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Wonderful, well-developed and aromatic nose, leathery, bloody, spicy, peppery, very deep, showing some age; keeping up very well on the palate, seems half way trough its development, classic composition, excellent balance and tannic grip, deep and minerally; very good length. Impressive but not up the standard of the incredible 1998.

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• 1992 M. Chapoutier Ermitage Le Pavillon 93 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  The most amazing, explosive nose of well-hung game, blood sausage, iron, red meat; on the palate the relatively elegant style of a somewhat lighter year but retains good tannic grip, lovely balance; good length. At peak, no real hurry.

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• 2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Classique 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  So floral, fragrant and fruity, fresh and elegant style, slightly lactic, very youthful still, lovely ripe fruit, hints of earth and red meat, clean and pure style with that very attractive, if somewhat new-worldy, refined hint of new oak that is so distinctive for René Rostaing's wines.

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• 2001 Château Rieussec Flawed

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  Half Bottle. Corked. The only casualty on a fabulous evening.

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