August 8, 2023 - Beaucoup de Beaujolais (Monarch Restaurant, Hotel Deco, Omaha, Nebraska): Popped and poured; no formal notes. As an American who loves to drink Beaujolais, I have had a lot of experience drinking the wines of Clos de la Roilette yet this expression has eluded me. Similar to the 3.14 from Foillard, this wine is an amped up version of their “Cuvée Tardive”. In fact, the fruit for “La Griffe du Marquis” comes from the same source as “Cuvée Tardive” but it’s a selection of the very oldest vines, some around 90 years of age. Uniquely, “La Griffe du Marquis” does see some time in used barrique. This was quite tasty and while the warmth of the 2015 vintage is obvious but I get the sense there is enough structure to see this age well. Drink now and over the next 15+ years.
November 13, 2022 - Day 1 - Expressive/ripe/deep gamay, almost Zin/Primitivo-esque rather than pinot-esque. Blackish crimson color, dark at the core and bright at the rim. Prune, dark cherry, hibiscus, dark spices (up to here zin-like), on top of more typical raspberry, cooked strawberry, cranberry which are equally intense. Tannin is thick but extra soft - mostly unstructured with lightly muddy texture. High-ish square shaped acidity is giving some solid muscular frame. Medium+ but high pitched fragrant finish. Multi-layered, good focus and clarity. At its peak - drink up. 91.
Day 2 - tannin/acidity got firmer. Concentration of biting dried prune itself. Ashy/earthy aftertaste - now almost like Piedmont Dolcetto/ Puglia Primotivo hybrid. Excellent but totally atypical - 90-91.
Day 3 - tastes like aged touriga Nacional. Still atypical/deep/bold. 90.
November 14, 2021 - Pop and pour. Very ripe. A touch of carbonic maceration, dark fruit, a touch of herbs, va. On the palate: ok acidity, actually, a touch flabby, with lots of prune...eh, did I say very ripe?
February 13, 2021 - Clos de la Roilette Fleurie 2015
At a blind tasting. Wow, didn’t realise that gamay could taste like that. On the nose I thought it smelt like a pinot, with sweet fruit, sweet clove, sweet herbs. On the palate, black fruits, powerful, wood, oaky, some hint of vanilla. With more air, some cola notes, more black fruits, smoothed out over time. Still very young and I sense it could develop much more and shed more of its oak. 91/100
March 24, 2020 - Rather thickly-textured for a Beaujolais but also quite silky with full flavors of bluish fruits and medicinal dark cherry spice. This still has oak to shed and is made to age, I think, and there is a lot of potential here. The finish is taut and grippy with dusty, chalky tannins. 90+
February 10, 2020 - I served this in my wine course. Relatively lower pitched darker fruit than the 2017 Foillard Cote du Py sampled next to it. Nose of cherry, plum, loads of spiciness and damp forest floor earthiness. Medium bodied. Less acidity than the Cote du Py, but excellent tannic structure on the finish.
October 27, 2019 - {Purchased on release, 4th or 5th bottle from a case; tasted over 24 hours} Complex, concentrated, bold wine with a goodly streak of minerals mixed in. This wine demands your attention without crossing the line into being too big. When opened it seemed quite forward; 18 hours later it was more heroic in size, almost clumsy, and now (22 hours open) it is quite sophisticated. Scoring ranged from 87 to 92 along the way. As others have noted, one of the biggest Fleurie wines out there. Prior bottles have been more in the 92 scoring range but well this is what today's bottle was like...
May 3, 2019 - Gamay Tasting - Misc Wines (MichaelsPlace): Dominated by VA and oak. Unstructured and dry. Not impressed.
March 20, 2018 - 2015 Coudert Fleurie Clos de la Roilette Griffe du Marquis, LDM WInes, Louis Dressner Selection. No alcohol level could be found; $30/750 ml; Grapes. Coravin-opened for several months in refrigerator. Cork-finished. Dense black-purple with perhaps a millimeter worth of fading; moderate to full sheeting and reluctant tearing. Bitter cherry pit aroma, with a slight but pleasant stemminess, edging into a little sweet smoky-neutral pork lardons, and showing a delicate florality on top. Juicy and with a wild-cherry palate, again with an appropriate presence of some stems--don't know whether this is due to some kind of carbonic maceration or just adding some extra of them. Tannin fine and subtle and just peeking out from behind the robe of this one. This is drinking so well now that despite some structure that might reward a little more cellar polish I wouldn't hold it long. Went well with roast root vegetables, Portuguese Serrano and Berthault Burgundian Epoisses cheese, and Bigosz: Polish game stew. A fine firm 92/100; less lacy than many a Fleurie but not without a balance of punchiness and finesse.
November 25, 2017 - Hands down the best fleurie I have had beautiful right now wonderful mix of dark spicy red berries and subtle minerals but it is the palate where this wine really shines fresh elegant persistent texture and a fruit filled long finish