Northern Rhones and Cali Syrahs for an out of towner
think cafe, chicago IL
Tasted Friday, May 1, 2009 by KeithAkers with 555 views
Introduction
Tooch was in town for business, so a few of us met up at think cafe to do a small syrah comparison. Originally it was gonna be even on the northern rhones and cali, but sometimes we can't always find the wines that we want to drink, haha.
Since it was northern rhone heavy, we had the northern rhones first and then had the cali syrahs last to provide a point/counterpoint somewhat
Flight 1 - the main event (6 Notes)
It was weird going with the youngest to oldest, but I wasn't sure how much more air was gonna help out the younger cote roties at that point. Obviously nothing was very old here, so more air could only help the La Chapelle and Clape
The Saxum was a complete 180 from the other syrahs. While the kongsgaard screamed new world when we had it, it certainly fit in a lot more then the Saxum, it was kind of like one of these things is not like the other. I more appreciated teh Saxum for what it was going for and what it was as opposed to really liking the wine
Flight 2 - an ending sauternes (1 Note)
Tim had brought this too so that we could have something at the end. Always a good ender and very enjoyable as it was on the night
Closing
A great night. Normally I have a set routine on what I eat at think cafe, but the rib eye that they had on special seemed like the perfect foil for the northern rhones and I'm really glad that I changed it up.
It was great meeting tooch and get together with some of the normal faces. We'll have to do it again when tooch is back in town
2000 Saint Cosme Côte-Rôtie 91 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
nose: a beautiful and classic nose filled with olives, charcol, black cherries, and meaty tones all wrapped in a dripping wet bacon fat blanket that forms a delightful base for all of the other tones. Excellent depth that has a real nice smokey expression to it
taste: silky medium feel with nice tannins. Very open for business, but on the younger side with well balanced tones of charcol, loads of bacon fat, black cherries and some smoked meaty tones with a hint of black pepper
overall: this had been decanted for about 2 1/2 hours before being re-bottled and taken to dinner. Exactly what you'd want from a cote rotie and has a great youthful verve to it that is very enjoyable and sultry in a way
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2003 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie 92 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
nose: sumptuous bacony nose with a coolness to it along with tones of charcol, black fruits, black cherries, and bits of spices accompanied by some hints of violets and even some slight tones of mint
taste: the tannins are still very pronounced on this with some medium+ acidity accompanying it with excellent tones of bacon, charcol, black fruits, black cherries and some lovely dark floral tones
overall: not fully ready yet for primetime. It had been splashed decanted before the dinner, so I just let it sit in my glass and took down my notes a bit later. There is a lot to like from this wine, but needs a few more years to fully coax out what it will bring
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1996 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
nose: great depth on the nose that just screams cornas from the second you put your nose in the glass. All sorts of white and black pepper, black cherries, some rustic tones, black olives, black spices and bits of bacon fat. This just grew in the glass and more layers seemed to get added.
taste: Big medium/full feel that is just pure bacon fat and white and black pepper. Just loaded and balanced with black cherries and black spices added along with a bit of rusticity. The tannins are still there naturally, but more there for support at this time
overall: this is really good right now. Hard to say if its at its peak or not, but its in a really good place that makes it very enjoyable in a calmed down bully sort of way. This had been decanted for a good 2 hours or so and it went amazing with a rib eye steak at dinner. This wine has a long way to go, but there is little shame in drinking this right now
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1999 Paul Jaboulet Aîné Hermitage La Chapelle 93 Points
France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
nose: this was just singing and once it fully revved up, was just a pure and almost intoxicating la chapelle on the nose with great tones of leather, black pepper, anise seed, black cherries, some charcol birquettes and bits of violets. sumptuous and beautiful, this was just on point and had a regalness to it
taste: very polished with a real sexy medium/full feel and nice rich tannins that are more there to hold their place right now as opposed to getting in teh way. Very well balanced tones of black pepper, leather, black cherries and bits of violets and burning charcol
overall: this bottle was very young. It was noted that this wine had seen a lot of bottle variance as ward had said that sometimes he's gotten really good bottles of this, and other times not so much. This bottle however was on point and singing in an excellent youthful manner
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2001 Kongsgaard Syrah Hudson Vineyard 93 Points
USA, California, Napa Valley
nose: a very odd note of black markers strikes right off the bat and doesn't seem to blow off. Once you get past that odd note, rich tones of dark cherries, black olives, pepper, dark berries and black licorice. excellent depth with wonderful balanced california fruit once one gets past the marker notes
taste: rich and silky with very complex flavors of dark cherries, pepper, dark berries, and black licorice. Great medium/full feel and depth with none of the marker tones on the palate.
overall: if this bottle didn't have the black marker tones that just wouldn't blow off, the experience may have been much better. The note was a bit off putting and some at dinner had a hard time getting past it. A wonderful syrah that blends NW and OW styles together extremely well and just has a great richness to it that made it a pleasure to drink
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2006 Saxum Broken Stones 91 Points
USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
nose: a complete and stark contrast to the other syrahs that were at the table. this smelled more like a cocktail with huge jammy fruit of blackberries, dark cherries, dark berry tones, mocha, and a bit of heat. The fruit was rampant, though toned back a slight bit from when I put it in the decanter earlier in the day. A big massive bowl of fruit, though not neccessarily gloppy, just a ton of dark fruits that don't fully distinguish themselves as syrah per se, just a whole lot of dark fruit
taste: huge, rich, and extracted fruit that is very jammy with massive tones of blackberries, black and dark cherries, mocha, and all sorts of other jammy black fruits. A bit over the top and the heat is a bit bothersome as it hits on the back end
overall: this is extremely well done for the style that it is aiming for. Not really the style that I like, but I have to respect the wine making on it. That said, the alcohol is massive on this and I don't know how this will or if it will tame down with time.
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