Syrah at Cabotte

Brilliantly organised by Thomas. Food was fantastic once again, and people were incredibly generous bringing some brilliant wines.

• 2003 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Blanc Les Rocoules 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Easily the oldest white rhone I’ve ever drunk. 14.5%. Whiff of VA on the nose. Quite oxidised; oranges, marzipan, but by no means over and done with. Acidity is pretty spikey on the palate but some ripe stone fruit notes remain. I *really* like this - but I was in the minority to say the least. Perhaps I was just looking forward to the evening!

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• 2015 E. Guigal St. Joseph Lieu-Dit St. Joseph Blanc 89 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph

  Really buttery on the nose. *Full* fat. If you gave me this blind I’d have guessed a high octane new world chardonnay. Bit of heat on the finish. I thought this tasted pretty flabby: at the time i wondered what the Marsanne content was like and I now see thanks to google that it’s 95%, which explains it. Just not my bag, but nothing ‘wrong; with it.

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• 2009 Delas Frères Côte-Rôtie Seigneur de Maugiron Flawed

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Quite a brambley nose. I thought this was a bit corked, as did circa 50% of the table - though our very nice sommelier was confident that it wasn’t. Whatever it was, it didn’t feel quite right to me; pretty acidic, fruit quite muted and just not that balanced.

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• 2009 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  Blackberry-ish nose. Some pretty direct acidity, but a pure (if not exactly exuberant) seam of really fruit still there, albeit kept in pretty rigorous check by the acidity. Tannins quite resolved. Anything but jammy! Very straight backed and no nonsense. Walks a bit of a tightrope. I think this is just stuck a little bit awkwardly between its youthful, generous fruit stage and its mature, developed tertiary stage, and so unlike some others I’m definitely giving this the benefit of the doubt. 92++, with both plusses doing an awful lot of heavy lifting.

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• 1999 Patrick Jasmin Côte-Rôtie 95 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

  First wine of the night with any classic Cote Rotie meatiness; classic mature Cote Rotie. Still lots of fruit - red and black but leaning towards red (raspberries?), and some dusty tannins. Loads left in the tank but feels like this will plateau for ~5 years rather than improve. Just absolutely delicious and everything you could ask for.

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• 2012 Franck Balthazar Cornas Chaillot 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Super brambley, super earthy on the nose. Surprising seam of acidity and also surprisingly mature fruit (or rather, primary/tertiary) profile. Tannis still very grippy. Really vivacious but for me it feels a bit like the fruit is advancing more quickly than the acidity and tannins are; i’m not convinced that this’ll make old bones. A little bit in the ‘neither here nor there’ stage.

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• 2006 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot 96 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Fantastic, super classic nose - meatiness incarnate! Very pronounced. Generous on the palate too; plenty of fruit and lovely tertiary stuff. It’s all there! Strikes me as a dead ringer for Cote Rotie rather than necessarily a stereotypical Cornas. In any case, one of the best wines I’ve had for a long time.

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• 2001 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas

  Something a bit weird (not bad!) on the nose… I ended up settling on cloves but I’m still not certain. Linear acidity; surprisingly youthful fruit profile. Can’t shake the impression that this tastes just a little bit generic - which is such an unfair criticism (generic 20 year old Cornas? yes please!) - but it is what it is.

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• 2004 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Quite a sweet blackcurrant/blackberry (not cassis) nose. Bit hot. Quite direct on the palate; something balsamic-y too. I loved the nose but just seems a little thin to me; a little bit one dimensional? That would be my only criticism.

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• 2007 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal 92 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Really sweet nose. Bit Jammy? On the strawberry spectrum. Ringer for something from the southern rhone, minus the kirsch. Pretty intoxicating, but just lacking a bit of zip. Very generous - but I’m not sure how it improves from here; would have thought that this was ‘at peak’

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• 1997 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 94 Points

  France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage

  Earthier and much less sweet than either of the ‘4 or ‘07 Greals. It’s retained some really strong acidity and a lovely core of fruit; amazing for almost 30 years old. Pretty youthful - lots of life left! Really lovely and something of a surprise.

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• 2007 Château Lafaurie-Peyraguey 92 Points

  France, Bordeaux, Sauternais, Sauternes

  On the burnt marmalade spectrum; surprisingly developed and really quite savoury in sauternes-terms. Amber in the glass; pretty vicious. If I had 'x' of these in my cellar I’d drink them up!

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