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.
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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.
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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?
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
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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+
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8/8/2023 - thesternowl wrote: 92 Points
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.
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11/13/2022 - mks83 Likes this wine: 90 Points
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.
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11/14/2021 - Aravind Asok wrote:
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?
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2/13/2021 - ceadsearc Likes this wine: 91 Points
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
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3/24/2020 - dream Likes this wine: 90 Points
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+
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