Gonons and Rougeards

Riverpark, NYC
Tasted Tuesday, July 1, 2014 by salil with 696 views

Flight 1 (1 Note)

  • 2009 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Vide Bourse 70 Points

    France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru

    This starts out with a blast of intense new oak and sulfur on the nose, and somewhere underneath there's a suggestion of ripe citrus and stone fruit. With a few hours of air the sulfur clears, but the oak remains overwhelmingly powerful, smothering the fruit and any other complexity that may exist. There's bright acidity beneath, and I get the impression that I'd really like this if it had a fraction of the oak, as the fruit beneath (when it does peek out) seems fresh and vibrant. Unfortunately it's an oaky mess that isn't helped at all by air, and I'm not a fan of this.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 2 (3 Notes)

  • 2012 Pierre Gonon Ardèche Les Iles Feray 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Ardèche

    Not quite as good a showing as previous bottles, perhaps suffered in comparison when poured right alongside the '12 St. Jo. This has a really pretty scent, floral and peppery notes framing bright red fruits, though it comes across a touch lean on the palate. It's very elegant and friendly, great for immediate drinking, but doesn't have the depth or complexity of the St. Joseph poured alongside.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2012 Vallin Syrah Sans Soufre 86 Points

    USA, California, Central Coast, Santa Ynez Valley

    A very ripe boysenberry and red fruited scent, it comes across a bit simple at first with a lot of ripe, bright fruit but not a whole lot else going on. With an hour or so in the decanter it starts to show a bit more on the nose, but it always feels a touch ripe and heavy handed in the company of the Northern Rhones.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2012 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    The aromatics here are very similar to the Les Iles Feray, with bright lavender and peppery scents around a core of bright red fruited flavours, but there's remarkable breadth and complexity on the palate, with some more smoky and earthy elements apparent. It's more structured and layered, compelling at first but with an hour or so of air the tannin starts to clamp down on the finish and this becomes more reticent. Fantastic for the first glass or so, but I'm glad all my bottles are buried in the cellar.

    Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 2011 Pierre Gonon Ardèche Les Iles Feray 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Ardèche

    This is still holding up really well. Lots of bright red fruit and black olive tinged with peppery and faintly smoky notes, drinking very nicely now with just a touch of fine grained tannin on the back end, and bright acids keeping it very fresh.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2011 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph 91 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    Not quite the knockout showing that I last experienced from this wine, but this is still really fantastic. Lots of fresh Syrah fruit, olives, smoke, and higher toned peppery, stemmy, and floral notes all coming together on the nose and palate, though it shows a fair bit of tannin on the back end that suggests this isn't the best time to be opening this. It becomes a bit more accessible with air, but while it's fun to drink now with some meat, I don't plan on touching my young bottles for some time.

    Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 4 (2 Notes)

  • 2010 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    Really closed and tannic. There's some bright red and dark berried fruit and olive notes apparent here, but it's showing just a fraction of what it did on release, and the structure dominates. No sense in opening this wine now, or any time in the next few years.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2010 Domaine Faury Saint-Joseph (Hedonism) 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    Another excellent showing. Really pretty, floral aromatics with bright lavender and violet notes framing a core of fresh red fruits and olives. There's a perfume like intensity to the aroma, great purity of flavour and a lightness of touch on the palate that makes this very appealing. The tannin's surprisingly fine grained and gentle right now (perhaps decanting helped), and it's very easy to drink now, though it has the fruit, balance, and structure to age beautifully.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 6 (3 Notes)

  • 2008 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph Flawed

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    Something seems off here. There's some bright berried fruit and pepper apparent, but also a strong stewed tomato-like note on the nose and the palate seems unusually thin. Wonder if this is slightly heat damaged. (The bottle was gray market - not from Kermit or Chambers.)

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2007 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph 93 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    This still rocks. Totally seamless with layers of pure Syrah fruit, spice, flowers, and more savoury earthy and smoky notes all coming together very seamlessly on a polished, medium weight frame. So elegant and long. Fantastic.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

  • 2005 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph Flawed

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Saint-Joseph

    Lightly corked.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

Flight 7 (2 Notes)

  • 2003 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux 92 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny

    Another excellent showing. It's certainly ripe with plenty of bright red and dark fruited flavours tinged with flamboyant spicy and herbal notes, but it doesn't show any of the roasted or overripe aspects of the vintage. It's very graceful and polished on the palate with bright acids, very well balanced and long.

    Post a Comment / Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No

  • 2000 Clos Rougeard (Foucault) Saumur-Champigny Les Poyeux 94 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Saumur-Champigny

    Absolutely stunning wine, my favourite of the night. The fruit's not as forward or intense as in the '03, it's more restrained here and framed by layers of leathery, earthy, smoky and high toned herbal and forestal notes. The balance is impeccable - there's bright acidity beneath keeping it very fresh and lively, and a spine of very fine grained tannin that gives this a really polished, graceful mouthfeel. Outstanding.

    Read 2 Comments / Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

×
×