While the many styles of CA Syrah are often a topic of conversation, I rarely see much discussion about the wide variety of styles found in the Northern Rhone (a relatively small region). Meanwhile I often see the phrase “Northern Rhone style” but is there really enough homogeneity of style in the region for this description to carry meaning?
My favorite producers of Northern Rhones are Chave, Jamet and Allemand but I was surprised to see that Jamet’s Cote Roties are only moderately well regarded by CellarTracker members. Do people enjoy this style of Syrah? Is there only demand for more oak driven Northern Rhones?
When it comes to N Rhone styles, IMO the less oak the better and I love to see malo in tank and whole cluster (very old school techniques). Frankly, I am at a loss to understand the appeal of the Guigal La Las as I find them completely overwhelmed by their oak even after 20 years in the cellar. I realize that many disagree and I thought it might be interesting to hear the other side.
David,
My sample may be more tilted toward local SFBay wine lovers than WB denizens. Still, I was really puzzled by the Jamet scores on CT especially when compared to something like Guigal La Mouline. Gonon and Allemand are relatively small producers, is worldwide demand for their style of wine fairly small?
Demand for their wines outstrips supply. Allemand prices have gone up quite anlot over recent vintages. Finding the Gonon Vieille Vignes is virtually impossible.
Guigal makes the kind of wines that attract high scores. Allemand and Gonon make winesnto drink.
generally speaking, i think Jamet tends to make more masculine, powerful expressions of syrah when compared against the likes of Gonon and Allemand. while i’ve only had a few Jamet they have certainly scratched my northern rhone itch - dark fruits, lots of meat, smoke, and olives.
on a side note, the newer house styles of (especially) Guigal, Delas, and Chapoutier have tipped the scales too far into the modern and oak-fueled world. shame, because their wines up until the mid-to-late '90s can be quite profound.
Seems like on this board there’s a lot of love for traditional Rhones.
Balthazar’s CdR and Faury’s St Joseph have both gotten lots of chatter around here, and both are under $30. I’m also a fan of Vincent Paris. According to JLL his wines have more stems as you go up the scale.
They don’t get the scores, but there’s a lot of good, reasonably priced wine out there. I feel like this board definitely leans away from Guigal, even if that’s not the case generally.
How many vintages of Allemand and Jamet have you had? I was just about to say that I think Jamet is the more elegant style, relative to Allemand
But to come back to Kevin’s question, yes there are a range of styles in the N. Rhone, but except for some rare vintages like 2003 there isn’t much overlap between the Rhone range and the California range. Even the most reserved, cool climate Cali syrahs generally sit at one end of the spectrum when placed in a Rhone tasting (not unlike Burgundy/Pinot). Of course there are some exceptions, but in my experience they are infrequent.
I’m with Kevin on preference for certain Rhone styles (though I tend to like a little less stem inclusion). There are a number of wines that have just been smothered by oak (notably Pierre Gaillard, to some extent Ogier, and a number of other lesser names).
I recall a few glowing notes here on Faury’s St. Joseph, but I’ve not tried one, myself. I’ll have to look at a new go-to Northern Rhone as Gonon is - perhaps solely because of its popularity on Wine Berserkers - in a constant upward momentum for pricing.
The Faury is generally good, but you want the VV version, which is a step up (and typically only a few more $$). I would describe Faury as a more modern wine, pretty drinkable early on. Gonon is usually less forward, higher acidity than Faury.
I think both the regular and VV Faury are excellent, and they are both cheap and available, which is a big plus compared to Gonon. The Faury I’ve had have been plenty high acid; you won’t mistake them for CA wines. JLL says 80% destemmed and 10% new oak, which is a far cry from the real modernists. Definitely worth a try if you’re in the market for syrah.
Alain Graillot is another one to check out at about $30. The 2010 Crozes-Hermitage is fantastic.
I can’t afford them, so I’ve never tried them. Seems like they’re typically lumped in with other high-extract, high-oak wines which don’t go over well with most old-world fans here.
I’m pretty sensitive to oak monsters (I’ve had a few Leflaives even where I thought there was too much oak) but the one Guigal LaLa I’ve ever tried ('01 Turque) impressed me as a pretty brilliant wine. Maybe because it was from an off vintage it didn’t loom too large, but I never detected an overuse of oak (a la 90s Dominique Laurent, which is pretty much just chewing on sticks). In fact, I wrote “clean and incisive” in my notes… I remember there was a pretty good balance of fruit and acid…
…and this from a guy whose favourite Burgundy is Clos des Lambrays.
