March 22, 2023 - Decanted off the sediment at 5:45, back in bottle, got into it at about 7:00. Lovely nose that showed a combination of leathery soil driven scents, and also sweet floral and fruit. This is a delicious, well balanced, entirely correct wine, and the finish really does pop. I did not feel, if I'm being honest, that it is of vastly higher quality than the other wines on the table - the 06, 09, and 10 'regular' cuvees. In fact, I found the 06 to be overall a more complete wine, with more complexity in the midpalate. I might be selling this 07 short - it was smokey and not easy to quietly appreciate the nuances of the wines.
July 17, 2019 - This was such a pleasure to drink. Such a limited wine and it shows that they would only make it in certain vintages because it is very ripe concentrated and intense. I will say I was missing a little bit of that bright lavender pepper umami that Gonon brings on a regular basis. But it was in there just in a totally different style.
March 1, 2019 - Tooch Going Away Dinner (TDS): Side by side with the 06. Slow-oxed about 2 hours before dinner. Initially brooding nose with big black fruit and notions of pepper but fairly non-delineated. Rich, concentrated and dense but rather clumsy right now. A glass towards the end of dinner was more nuanced and integrated. I'd hold as there is lots of upside from here.
March 1, 2019 - A farewell to Tooch (Chicago, IL): If we were drinking this individually, I probably wouldn't come off so negative about this wine. It's certainly a good bottle of syrah, but to my palate, it is far weaker than the 2006. There's some juicy red fruit here, and a sweetness that seems to give this a bit of a softer disposition. Clearly a less potent wine than the brooding 2006. Not much tannin here, this feels far closer to ready than the 2006.
April 25, 2018 - big boy. The biggest boldest most structured wine in the lineup. While the other three were all accessible in their own way they didn’t have the brawniness and tannin that showed up in the Gonon. Stern and dusty on the nose and similar to the regular 07. But like the Benetiere, it’s about how amped up it is compared to its “lesser” sibling. It was opened for roughly 7 hours (Dan had decanted it early in the day) before it finally hit its stride and peeked our from the tannins. But when it did, it was massive and glorious. Dark deep concentrated black berries and olive stain the palate as the tannin softens. The other three wines, the finish glided along but this wine, the flavor just weighs and sits, leaving you smacking your lips before the next sip.
April 23, 2018 - Mostly Northern Rhone Dinner with Sir Charles (Sole Ristorante Italianom, San Mateo): Beautiful deep red fruit, vibrant, great acidity, good fine structure. Young but drinks wonderfully. Outstanding.
April 27, 2017 - Dinner with Mark at Table, Donkey and Stick (Chicago, IL): Next to the regular 2007, this is a much sterner and darker wine. The nose has a very dark complexion, and there are some dusty aromas as well to couple with the black fruit. However, this isn't sweeter or riper -- it's balanced the same way as the St. Joseph, just with more concentration and depth of the palate. Surprisingly, the tannic structure here isn't much bigger either (especially in comparison to how I remembered the 2006 VV); perhaps a product of a riper vintage. Nonetheless, despite the density, this is a very elegant and light wine, and I did prefer this to the regular by a bit.
December 15, 2016 - Based on the 2011 Juge Cornas next to this wine, I preferred the Juge. The Gonon seemed shut down or closed off to me, drinking softly and not giving me much. Was served and aired through a decanter too. Towards the end of the meal, I revisited the wine again and it seemed as if the finish was clipping off. My judgment here is reserved, and I would say to decant this a lot prior to serving to see if air will allow it to uncoil.
June 2, 2016 - Great Gonon Tasting (Frederiksberg): Very different from the old plots of Trollat; a big wine, dense, dark, a bit austere, lots of matter here, right now a bit unforgiving. Decant for several hours - or wait. 92+
June 2, 2016 - Such a different wine compared to the St. Joseph. Much darker, deeper fruit, so much material. Most of us though got this had marks of oak on the nose and a bit of vanilla on the palate, but as the wine opened up this became very floral (violets), peppery and meaty. Tannins are still marked and need to resolve further. Needs at least another 5 years in the cellar.