April 5, 2024 - Thomas’s Northern Rhone extravaganza (Cabotte): Seemed very young and primary after the previous few wines, with pure purple fruit on the nose and strawberry shortcake on the palate. Enjoyable, if a bit heady.
April 5, 2024 - Syrah at Cabotte (Cabotte): 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’
November 24, 2023 - Splendie !
Un nez tellement fin et envoutant, subtil et complexe, j'en avais des frissons! Un mix de fleurs séchées (violette, rose), doux, de fruits rouges et noirs, d'epices, à peine viandé (une nuance), à la bois baroque et immensément élégant: magique.
La bouche surprend ensuite, car elle marque moins l'evolution, le vin offre un style différent, plus jeune, plus "sur le fruit" (cassis), solaire (concentré et puissant) et néanmoins minéral (sensation acidulée). L'attaque ronde et riche s'associe à la structure plus vigoureuse et serrée (ressentie déjà en 2018), quelle classe! Il se pourrait qu'avec qq années de plus cette texture soit de plus en plus velours...
il ira au delà de 2030 je suppose...
94/95
March 16, 2023 - This is a supremely good Hermitage now drinking at the top of its game. Dark fruit, smoked meat, ash, porcinis. The thing that sets this wine apart however is an absolute Volnay-like texture. Pure silk. Very delicate and sexy juice.
February 5, 2023 - Monthly Tasting Group: Rhones (Noyes and Cutler, St. Paul, MN): Very dark red/purple color. Drank a small glass at the end of the night. This came at the end of a long line of wines and like the '10 Guigal BeB didn't get the attention they deserved. I thought this had a really great texture to it, big, with dark fruits of blackcherry and boysenberry, good minerality and well spiced. 92-93pts.
February 5, 2023 - Big wine group Rhone dinner at Noyes & Cutler. A perfect Lowertown St Paul venue for our group and theme! Great food, service & roomy! Decanted for 3-1/2 hour prior to dinner. Removed cork again shortly after arrival at Noyes & Cutler. Drank around 2hrs later with last course. Excellent old school Hermitage in its early mid drinking window. Fruit is vibrant but energetic with no sense of weight thanks to its acidity. Elegant and smooth now but should further soften with age. Terrific terroir notes of; meat, iron, underbrush and dark fruit scream Hermitage in the most classic sense but no hard edges. No longer brawny but still quite powerful. Wish I had 1 or 2 more as this likely improve further and last till 2030+.
June 19, 2021 - Mid-ruby in the glass. No signs of decrepitude or a difficult vintage. Instead a really elegant, gentle rendition of this hermitage. Dark berrys, fruits, black olives. All restrained, toned down. A superb effort for the vintage, this could be easily overlooked, but shows very well right now, especially with traditional food at the table.
November 12, 2020 - Wine Night #2 Commanderie @ GWC!: Black fruits, cherries, spice box, figs, herbs, slight smokiness. Nice, chewy tannins. I would hold this for a while more.
November 12, 2020 - During a blind tasting dinner, all wines served double blind. Lots of red frut in the nose, alcoholic, rich and southern. The palate shows heat and finishes on drying tannins. Really unbalanced, rustic. Did not like this at all. This producer has a good reputation, to be revisited I guess.
December 26, 2019 - This is Grand Cru-level Hermitage. The nose shows brambly fruit, minerals, and iron, and the palate has intense, concentrated Syrah fruit with savory/meaty notes but in a middleweight package. Herbal undertones. This has the length and class of a grand vin. Open for business now but with room for improvement.