April 2024 France (Champagne, Burgundy, N. Rhone) Trip Report

[J_Rock]

I just returned from a wonderful wine-centric trip to France (my first trip to France) and since others’ trip reports were very helpful when planning my trip, I figure I should contribute my own. I’m not going to try to post notes for every wine (although most are on CellarTracker) or share everything I learned, but feel free to ask questions if you want to know anything else.

Since this is a wine forum, I’ll try to focus primarily on wine and wine-related experiences and not as much on food, lodging, etc.

I arranged all of the tastings via email. I wrote them in French (using Google translate) as a courtesy. I found all email addresses either via Google or larvf.com

Please excuse all of the typos!

Day 1 – Arrival to France and Champagne

We didn’t have anything scheduled today in case we were jet lagged. We landed in Paris at 8:15 a.m. rented a car and had a pleasant drive to Reims. I think we checked into our hotel around 11:15 a.m. or so.

First stop was the Glue Pot, a great wine bar. Got some really tasty food and a bottle of NV Emmanuel Brochet Champagne Le Mont Benoit (base 2020) for 120 euros. Really interesting and complex Champagne. I really enjoyed it and found it to be very intellectual, but not something I love enough to buy at home for $200ish/bottle. Recommend stopping here.

We hit up a few wine shops, bakeries, etc. before dinner at La Jardin Les Crayeres. Really nice, relaxing atmosphere, top-notch service (included the somm), and great food, all for a very reasonable price. We enjoyed a bottle of NV Huré Frères Champagne L’Insouciance (base 2020) for 100 euro I think off the great wine list. Great fresh strawberry notes and great balance. Simple, but very enjoyable and something I’ll purchase again. I very highly recommend this restaurant.

Day 2 – Tasting in Champagne (Montagne de Reims)

• Roger Coulon (Vrigny, Montagne de Reims) – 42 euros/person; 1.5 hours
  

  

  • I was already a fan of this small grower-producer, largely because they bottle their Champagne at a lower pressure and because of their commitment to very high quality farming (e.g., organic and agroforestry)

  • Great private tour and tasting with friendly and knowledgeable hostess who spoke great English

  • Some of the information on the tour was pretty basic but we also saw some cool stuff (e.g., clear bottles showing how the lees move as bottles are riddled). The hostess was able to answer more geeky questions
    

    

  • We tasted the following cuvees: Heri-Hodie (90% perpetual reserve [started in 1996 if I recall correctly] + 10% 2020), L’Hommée (2018 base), 2014 Blanc de Noirs Brut Millésimé, and Rosélie (2022 base). All wine was very good to excellent.

  • 2014 BdN is made from 50% ungrafted Pinot Meunier from Gueux and 50% old vine Pinot Noir from Vrigny. No oak; no malo. Rich but not at all heavy with notes of bread/brioche, spices, light honey; very nicely integrated medium+ acidity; wonderful soft, superfine bubbles. Excellent wine.
    

    

  • It would’ve been nice if we got to taste another vintage wine, but this was a great visit and I recommend it.

• Nicolas Maillart (Écueil, Montagne de Reims) – 30 euros/person ; 45 minutes
  

  
  • The one mistake I made while planning this trip was waiting for Alexandre Chartogne to confirm whether he’d be available when I was in town and then not having any back up plans booked when he let me know he’d be out of town. Maillart was one of the few grower producers in the area who I’ve heard some good stuff about.
  • The hostess wasn’t great – she showed no enthusiasm, and not a ton of knowledge beyond the usual spiel (although part of it might be language barrier), so tour wasn’t too great either (understatement)
  • Tasting was very lackluster with 2 slightly enjoyable entry level NVs and 1 very good / pretty great 2019 Montchenot. What made this even more disappointing is that they make a lot of seemingly interesting, small production vintage/vineyard-based cuvees, but we only tasted one, so we couldn’t compare sites. Also, the hostess would pour the wine, then leave to an adjacent office where she’s chat/joke with a couple other colleagues and we’d wait a few minutes with empty glasses until she returned to pour more.
  • The best thing about this visit was that it was only 45 minutes. I recommend you avoid.

• We love Reims. So charming and so walkable. Great food, wine bars, etc. and close to a lot of great producers.

Day 3 – Tasting in Champagne (Côte des Blancs)

• Larmandier-Bernier (Vertus, Côte des Blancs) – 30 euros/person ; about 1.25 hours
  

  

  • Probably doesn’t need any introduction, but relatively small, organic grower-producer specializing in BdB Champagne. The only ferment in barrel, but their trying some in amphora

  • Tour and tasting with 10 people total and very knowledgeable hostess who spoke great English. One cool thing we saw on the tour was their stash of old library bottles (vintages going back 40+ years), most of which were still on their lees waiting to be disgorged! I wonder what those wines would be like from aging 40+ years on the lees!
    

    

  • We tasted the following cuvees: Rosé de Saignée (2020 base), Longitude (2020 base), 2017 Terre de Vertus, 2014 Vieille Vigne du Levant

  • I didn’t care much for the Rose, but the Longitude was great and a great value and the two vintage wines were really great. My wife preferred the Vertus and I preferred the Levant slightly, which I thought was just a bit richer and more vinous, showed more autolytic and malo notes, and had a bit finer and gentler bubbles. Regardless, I’d be very happy to drink either the Vertus or Levant
    

    

  • I recommend this visit

• Dhondt-Grellet (Flavigny, Côte des Blancs) – no fee ; 1.5 hours

  • Adrien Dhondt, only about 33 years old, took over as vigneron of his family’s relatively tiny estate in 2012. Adrien puts a lot of work into farming, primarily using organic and biodynamic practices and plowing his vineyards with his super buff horse, Thor. He tries to promote healthy vines/vineyard ecosystems, but otherwise tries to be largely hands off, especially in the cellar where he largely just lets the wine do what it’s going to do (after all, he already put in so much work in the vineyard). He doesn’t use much sulfur, but he does use it as he recognizes it’s importance in protecting the wine.

  • Adrien speaks great English and is very charismatic and generous

  • We tasted with about 8 people total in his cellar

  • Adrien starts with us tasting maybe 4 or 5 or so vin clairs from 2023, which he said was a difficult vintage, but you couldn’t tell because these wines were great. He could’ve bottled some right then and there and I would’ve bought them. Electric acidity on most, and it’s wild to see how different the different sites show before blending and aging on lees, etc. The vin claires ranged from expressive and fruity to salty and reductive. He loves when his wines are reductive and that seems to be his ideal, but he doesn’t really “do” anything to “make” them reductive, it just depends on the fruit/site and what happens naturally in the cellar.
    

    

  • Exemplifying his hands off approach in the cellar:

    • I asked if the vin clairs had or are going through malo, he said “I don’t know”, but thought one that was bubbly was probably going through it and thinks most of his wines go through it as he doesn’t stop it
    • I asked what pressure he bottles at / if it’s less than 6 bars (it seems like it); he said he’s not sure what it is exactly, but it’s under 6

  • After the vin clairs, we tasted the following cuvees: Roc Solare (2021 base), Les Terres Fines Blanc de Blancs (2020 base), Blanc de Blancs Cramant (2020 base), 2018 Blanc de Blancs Extra Brut Les Nogers, White – Sparkling, 2018, Blanc de Blancs Vieille Vigne Le Bateau, 2015 Le Mont de Fer Rosé de Macération

  • All the wines were great/excellent (I scored most 93 – 94 points, which is high for me). All wines have really great acidity (but still sufficient ripeness) and wonderful pinpoint bubbles. The Roc Solare is actually one of my favorites at this stage with nice complexity and awesome acidity, and is a great value (but so far, he’s only released 5,000 bottles, so you can’t really find them). My other favorites are Les Nogers and Le Bateau, which are more vinous and concentrated, more complex, and have even better (more gentle) bubbles.

  • The 2015 Rose is also very impressive and it still showing very young. Adrien said it’s the only Rose he’s made and will make. I asked if something happened to the fruit source and he essentially said “No, I just don’t like Rose.”
    

    

  • Excellent wines and an outstanding visit. I feel like we got really lucky securing a visit here, but if you’re able to visit Adrien, don’t dare pass up the opportunity!

• Jacques Selosse (Avize, Côte des Blancs) – 50 euros/person (most of which is for a translator) ; 2.75 hours

  • (Doesn’t need an intro, but still) Small, cult grower-producer who many will say is the best grower-producer in Champagne and probably the most influential grower-producer in Champagne. They practice permaculture and a relatively hands off approach in the cellar. They are known for their oxidative wines, and their use of a Solera in Champagne.
    

    

  • Anselme hosted a group of maybe 15 people (all guests at his hotel, Les Avises) in the Selosse cellar. He doesn’t really speak English, so he had an English translator with him.

  • The first 80% or so of the visit/tasting was a pretty freeform Q&A / discussion with Anselme (with the help of the translator), who clearly is a passionate genius. His thoughts on wine are like poetry. The one other winemaker I’ve met who gave me pretty similar vibes is Ketan Mody.

  • He doesn’t think he has a “best” wine. They are just different. He likes a hands off approach and to just guide the wine so it can best express the time and place

  • They don’t typically add sulfur until they’re bottling, but they watch how the wine “breathes” as it ferments in barrels and will add just a touch of sulfur to protect the wine if they think it’s needed

  • Selosse tries to avoid spraying the vineyards if at all possible and instead tries to promote healthy vines and vineyard ecosystems. For example, he’ll spread frozen, ground-up algae in the vineyard to introduce something foreign to the vines to help them build immunity/resilience

  • I asked him what he thinks on aging’s (post disgorgement) effect on the wine’s ability to clearly and authentically express terroir and he (1) lit some paper on fire to demonstrate how oxygen causes beautiful reactions and changes the wine over time, but ultimately leaves behind only [inorganic] ash (his wines are mortal) and (2) said that as wine ages, the effect of vintage is removed from the wine and you are eventually left with pretty much only an expression of terroir. He said it’s kind of like how a child is influenced so much by the year and decade he or she was born when he or she is young, but after several decades, the child more reflects their experience in the environment(s) in which they matured more than the time at which they were born. (he said it much more beautifully than I am summarizing [and I didn’t take notes at the time])

  • Comité Champagne (I think) recently declared/required pick dates that Anselme deemed too early, so he essentially ignored them. They also told growers to add nitrogen (I think) to the soil, but Anselme didn’t think this was good for his vines, so he ignored them. Not listening to the comitie’s requirements usually just results in a slap on the wrist if anything, though it seems that one might not be able to label their wine “Champagne” if it doesn’t comply with the committee’s mandates (I have trouble remembering the details of this part) and in connection with this discussion, Anselme said legally, the 1988 vintage doesn’t exist . More realistically, if they think a grower needs to be reined in, they’ll send someone to “supervise” him, and we laughed at the thought of someone supervising Anselme making/growing Champagne.
    

    
    
    
    

  • We taste the following cuvees: (2017 base, disg. 23), VO (2017 base, disg. 23), Rose (2017 base, disg. right in front of us), Substance (disg. 2018), and Millésimé 2012 (I think only the 4th bottle he’s opened for anyone). All of the wines were incredible (so amazingly complex, rich, vinous, excellent bubbles, etc.) and the 2012 was by far the best Champagne I’ve ever had (and I made sure to really savor it as there were only 3,200 bottles produced). I had recently asked about the bubbles/pressure and when I tasted the 2012, Anselme looks at me, smiles, and asks “where are the bubbles?” seemingly proud of the immaculately gentle pinpoint mousse on this wine.
    

    

(I have a video of him disgorging a bottle of Rose by hand, but don’t know how to post it here)

• A simply incredible experience.

We ate dinner steps away from Selosse’s cellar in Les Avises.

• Great 3 course meal. Kind of like more laidback fine dining
• Prices of Selosse at the restaurant are much lower than retail (in USA at least)
• Highly recommended

Unless you’re trying to save money, I highly recommend staying in the Les Avises Hotel (even if you don’t get a chance to taste with Anselme) if you’re visiting the Côte des Blancs.

This concludes the Champagne portion of our trip. I was a bit worried about having to taste “bad” vintages, but I didn’t notice any of the wines seemingly suffering from bad/challenging vintage conditions.

I posted about the Burgundy portion of our trip in post no. 14 and posted about the Rhone portion of the trip in post no. 16.

[Ryan_A]

Awesome notes and visit. Great content, detail and impressions. Thank you

That Selosse visit has to be one of the most memorable experiences. Well done! Cheers

[Justin_Wittkopf]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us! Looks like a great trip! Really appreciate the photos.

What did you guys do for lunches? We will be in some of the same areas in June and curious as to how you planned those out.

Cheers,

Justin

[Bill_Sweeney]

Great post, thanks for taking the considerable time to write it up. I’ll save your recommendations.

[J_Rock]

Lunch is actually super easy. From what we saw, pretty much everything except for restaurants closes for lunch from noon to 2, so you’ll probably have little to do during that time but eat lunch. Even if you’re in a small village, there should be a restaurant that’s decently close (look on Google Maps), and worst case, there was always a bakery within walking distance from our lodging where you can get a very inexpensive and simple, but quality sandwich for later in the day.

[MChang]

Great notes!

[MChang]

The thing I like about selosse is they can be very cerebral but also very pleasurable just to drink.

I think my favorite bottle of selosse was some 18 substance I drank while wrapping up a crazy wine wknd in Atlanta with @Mark_E, @Andrew_K, @Alex_Valdes, @Nick_Christie, and @Jonathan_Favre. Can’t remember if @Brad_England made it to the nightcap. This champagne was obviously delicious but was the perfect background to a fun conversation with good friends. It didn’t scream out for attention but everything was there.

[Alex_Valdes]

A very fun time indeed. Looking forward to the next one

[Jim_Stewart]

Nice! I’m going to bookmark this one.

[Frank_Murray_III]

Thank you for posting and taking the time to write it all up. I appreciate your effort very much.

I also appreciate that you have an alignment to producers who farm with an organic/bio focus. That too is important to me, and is how I choose my own visits and who I support in Champagne. Sometimes I don’t think this matters much to some but I wanted you to know it very much resonates with me.

Maillart sounds like a bummer. The visit leaves you feeling to an extent (my perspective) like a nuisance or bother.

As for L-B, I visited there in 2022 and had the good fortune to sit with Arthur Larmandier and taste through the range with him. I too like their wines, and like you, am not much of a fan of the Rose–it just doesn’t ring my bell. But I do like Terre de Vertus and Levant (buy both each release). My 16 Terre de Vertus bottles are just recently into my cellar, been thinking about getting one open, and I’ll use your note as inspiration. I think too your perception about Levant vs TdV is similar to mine, as the latter should be more linear, perhaps kinda chiseled and for sure less rich. Did you find any oak/wood sticking out on the Longitude? In the 2019, it was for me and turned me off a lot, and I have hesitated about buying the 2020. Do you have any thoughts on that?

Thank you again, Jordan.

[J_Rock]

The '18 Substance I tasted on this trip was incredible and the best Champagne I tasted… until I tasted the 2012 Selosse a few minutes later. I agree that one special thing about these wines are that, in my opinion, they are both very complex and can be intellectual, but they are simultaneously incredibly hedonistic. This is a pretty rare combination for me, especially to the extent exemplified by Selosse’s wines.

[J_Rock]

While it’s possible I’m not as sensitive to oak/wood as you are, I didn’t notice any sticking out in the base 2020 Longitude. In fact, I thought it was a great wine and it, along with the Roger Coulon Champagne Premier Cru L’Hommée (base 2018), stood out to me as especially great values at around $60 domestically.

I don’t recall what initial reports say on the 2020 vintage, but I think I tasted maybe 6 - 8 or so base 2020 Champagnes and I really liked them all (except Maillart’s were weaker), so I wouldn’t hesitate to buy whatever your usual suspects are in 2020.

[Frank_Murray_III]

Thank you Jordan. I’ll look for both Longitude and Latitude in 2020. For sure in 2019 I preferred Latitude much more so we’ll see.

[J_Rock]

Day 4 – Drove from Avize (Champagne) to Beaune (Burgundy); a little over 3 hours

I found the roads in France to be really nice and the traffic was essentially nonexistent (even when there were a bunch of cars on the road), but maybe I’m just used to LA traffic. There are a ton of rest stops on the tollways and a lot of them are pretty nice (especially compared to the last resort rest stops in USA). I liked driving.

Took the day easy and just drove, walked around town a bit, and tasted a few forgettable wines at some wine shops

• Dinner at Maison Lameloise (3-star), which was about 18 minutes south of Beaune
  o Excellent service (except pretty slow 1st hour), incredibly intricate and ambitious mean/plating/execution with soooo many different elements to pretty much every dish/course. The meal lasted about 4 hours.
  o We thought there were some really excellent dishes/bites, but also a couple that we didn’t really care for and some that were merely good or very good, but we want much better than merely good if we’re paying close to $900 or so for dinner
  
  
  
  
  

o We loved the wine pairing. Every pairing (except dessert) was excellent. We split 1 wine pairing and it was more than enough wine for us.
 Wines included: 2016 Deutz Champagne (BTG), 2021 Hubert Lignier Saint Romain Blanc, 2019 Francois Carillon Saint Aubin 1er Les Murgers Des Dents De Chien, 2020 Jean-Marc Pillot Les Vergers Clos Saint-Marc, 2020 Hudelot-Baillet Chambolle-Musigny Vieilles Vignes, 2021 David Moreau Santenay 1er Cru Beaurepaire Blanc, 2021 Yves Leccia Muscat du Cap Corse, Clos Nicrosi Rappu
 These were the best wines we had in Burgundy (except for the 2 dessert wines, which I didn’t care for)
o Outstanding cheese cart. Probably some of the best cheese we’ve ever had
o We definitely had a great time, but I don’t think we enjoyed it quite enough to justify the price ($900), so I don’t think we’ll rush to go back, especially with all of the other options in Burgundy

Day 5 – Tasting in Burgundy (Côte de Nuits)

• OK, we get it now, Burgundy domaines take their weekends very seriously and almost none of them (except the huge negociants) are open on Saturday. If you want to visit smaller producers, make sure you’re there during the weekdays

• We began the day going to the Saturday Market in Beaune. It’s really crowded and hectic, but there are a lot of great stands selling bread, cured meat, cheese, veggies, quiche, etc. Fun/interesting way to stock up on some snacks.

• Domaine Boursot (Chambolle-Musigny) – 30 euros/person ; 1.25 hours
  o Small domain with some domaine wines and some negociant wines
  o Romuald, the grower/winemaker graciously hosted us, spoke good English and explained everything well
  o We tasted 7 wines including the following: 2021 Chambolle-Musigny Les Nazoires, 2021 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Chatelots, 2021 Chambolle-Musigny 1er Cru Les Fuées, and 2022 Clos Vougeot
  

  

o The wines were generally good/enjoyable, but not great. While the C-M 1er Crus were our favorites, the 2021 across the board were just a little too weak and lacked just a bit of body/concentration/structure/oomph and certainly not worth over $100 for us. The ’22 Clos Vougeot wasn’t seemingly diluted like the 2021s, but it was very simple and not something I’d ever consider paying hundreds of dollars for
o It was a nice visit, especially considering most places were closed, but I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it if you have other options

• Domaine Henri Gouges (Nuits-Saint-Georges) – 45 euros/person ; 1 hour
  o Nice private tasting in tasting room with host who spoke good English
  o Loved that they poured all 5 wines side-by-side
  o We tasted the following cuvees: 2021 NSG Village, 2021 Les Chaignots, 2019 Clos des Porrets, 2019 Les Pruliers, 2018 Les Vaucrains, bonus pour of 2021 Pinot Blanc
  
  

o The ‘21s weren’t notably worse (or better) than the other vintages for me
o While it was nice experiencing the differences between the different cuvees, they didn’t do much for me. I thought they were all pretty much varying degrees of good or maybe even very good, but nothing was great or impressed me. The large amount of tannins (and often average and drying ones at that) just is not what I’m looking for with Pinot. I’d be inclined to guess that they’ll age well, but I haven’t enjoyed the couple aged Gouges I’ve had any more than these, so who knows. Honestly, the Pinot Blanc was probably my favorite wine (I scored it 89 points).
o If these were a lot less money, maybe I’d buy a few to see how the turn out after many years in the cellar, but they don’t make any sense to me at these prices.
o I think it’s a nice tasting experience if you’re a fan of these wines, but they are not for me.

We ate dinner at 21 Boulevard in Beaune, where we sat in a cool 15th century wine cellar (which can get a bit noisy). The food was generally very good, service was solid enough, and it’s very reasonably priced. I don’t know much about Burgundy, but the wine list seemed pretty good to me. We ordered a 2019 Méo-Camuzet Frère et Sœurs Morey St. Denis for about 120 euros. It was pretty simple and primary, but was very enjoyable
(especially the silkier tannins) and the best wine we tasted that day.

Before my visit to Burgundy, I didn’t quite “get” Burgundy. I’ve had some great Burgundies, but it’s largely a relatively expensive game of hit and miss (emphasis on the “miss”) for me. While the main reason we went to Burgundy was because it’s in between Champagne and Northern Rhone, I was hoping to gain a better understanding of it or discover some producer(s) I could enthusiastically buy going forward, but that didn’t happen (although, we still had a very good time). Next time, I’ll try to visit during the week (and until then, probably focus my Pinot exploration on Spätburgunder).

I’ll post about the Northern Rhone portion of our trip soon.

[MChang]

I mean, those are sorta random domaines to be tasting at and certainly not where I’d go as a burg neophyte, Drouhin would likely have been the best place to get more of an overview.

LA is a really good place to taste burgundy, the various wine shops tend to do a lot of tastings.

[J_Rock]

Day 6 – drove from Beaune (Burgundy) to Vienne (Northern Rhone); about 2 hours

In general, we didn’t love the vibe of Vienne. Certainly not a charming town like Reims, Avize, or Beaune. We had nice accommodations though and it was conveniently close to Cote Rotie. Next time, we’ll probably look for accommodations across the river before booking in Vienne.

We drove down on a Sunday when just about everything is closed. However, we were able to book a table for lunch at La Pyramide - Maison Henriroux, a 2-star restaurant.

• Great meal, but, with the exception of the excellent desserts, generally didn’t hit the very high notes I’d want/expect for a meal of this price (around $550)

• I wasn’t very impressed with the wine program. There wasn’t a wine pairing on the menu that I could see, but I asked the somm if he could do a pairing for us. 1 nicely mature obscure sauvignon blanc/semillon blend from southern France impressed me and paired very well, but the wines were generally just 16 euro/glass or so “nice” wines. Maybe I could’ve told the somm we were willing to spend more on the wine pairing, but it’s kind of his job to ask what he needs to ask to make sure we’re getting what we want

• It was also odd that they agreed we could split a wine pairing but they gave us two glasses and only poured wine into one…

• Really nice time, but wouldn’t go back as I expect more at this price point

Day 7 – tasting in Northern Rhone (Condrieu and Côte Rotie)

• Domaine Georges Vernay (Condrieu) – 5 euros/glass, but waived with purchase; 30 minutes

• This smaller family estate is the benchmark Condrieu producer. George Vernay pretty much put Condrieu and Viognier on the map. Today, the domaine uses organic and biodynamic practices.
• I wasn’t sure what to expect when they told me this would be a 30 minute tasting, but we really enjoyed this
• Tasted with a hostess (who spoke good English and seemed to know her stuff) at a little bar on the property
• We tasted the following cuvees: 2022 Viognier Le Pied de Samson, 2022 Condrieu Les Terrasses de l’Empire, 2022 Condrieu Les Chaillées de l’Enfer, 2021 Condrieu Coteau de Vernon, 2022 St. Joseph Terres d’Encre, 2021 Côte-Rôtie Maison Rouge
• The reds were enjoyable, but nothing I’d seek out. The ’21 C-R was the weaker of the two reds with a bit of tartness and a little oak sticking out.
• The whites were all very good to great. Le Pied de Samson is a good value and the other 2022s had good acidity and minerality, no tropical notes or flabbiness that some people fear 2022 Condrieu may show
• The 2021 Vernon was great and my favorite wine here. So intellectual and complex, especially on the nose. The palate was a more reticent, but the finish was great – long and complex. Great body, acidity, and precision. This seems very age worthy and I cannot wait to see how this shows when mature. Wish there were more than 2,000 bottles produced.
• This was a quick but enjoyable visit and I recommend stopping by

• Maison Stephan (f/k/a Domaine Jean-Michel Stephan) (Tupin-et-Semons, Côte Rotie) – no fee ; about 1.25 hours

• This tiny domaine very proudly makes natural wines with nothing added to them other than what’s in the vineyard (including no SO2). Jean-Michel trained in Beaujolais and uses carbonic maceration. The domaine also has a decent amount of Serine vines.
• Jean-Michel was present and giving a tour to some French-speaking guests, but since he doesn’t speak English, we were hosted by a nice woman who spoke English
• The visit started with a tour of the new and pretty impressive facility. We started on the roof of the facility (where the grapes are sent down shoots into the tanks below), which was great as it’s adjacent to the steep vineyards of Côte Rotie. Everyone says it, but it’s true – it’s hard to truly appreciate how steep these vineyards are until you see them in person. They said we could walk in the vineyard at the end of the visit if there was time, but we forgot / had to go to lunch. Seeing these very steep vineyards and how small the domaine’s barrel room is almost made me wonder how the wines weren’t even more expensive.
  
  

• We eventually arrived in a nice tasting room where we tasted the following cuvees: 2022 Vin de France Le Grand Blanc, 2022 Syrah Vin de France, 2022 Côte-Rôtie Les Binardes, and 2021 Côte-Rôtie L’Ultime

• We were surprised and decently impressed with the Grand Blanc, which was showed a nice intersection of fruit and mineral with a somewhat fuller body and solid acidity. The 2 2022 reds were good, possessing relatively approachable tannins and respectable complexity for being so young, but I bit lighter than what I prefer, although I appreciate them for being different than what I’m used to.

• For 2021, Maison Stephan did something I think is very smart – they took their exceptionally small Côte-Rôtie crop from the challenging year and combined it all to make one one-off cuvee. The label is pretty cool as it combines all of the labels from their usual Côte-Rôtie cuvees. The resulting wine was impressive with nice concentration, very good complexity (especially for the age), and really nice tannins. I’m looking forward to seeing how these age (and crossing my fingers they don’t spoil from being so “natural”)

• We really enjoyed this visit and I found these wines to be refreshingly different than a lot of Northern Rhone wines (and Syrah in general) I’ve had. I recommend this visit.

• We had a wonderful lunch at the very new Les Gagères, which is right on top of the Maison Stephan winery, nestled alongside the vineyards of Côte Rotie. The restaurant is minimalistic and sharp, you can feel the passion and excitement coming from the staff, and the food is excellent. This is fine dining without any fuss and it’s an incredible value (I think it was 39 euro for a 3-course meal). I expect it to have a star in the next Michelin guide. Unless you just want a quick sandwich or something like that, I don’t see how you can pass this up if you’re in the area.

• Honestly, the combination of the shorter tasting at Georges Vernay + Maison Stephan just minutes away + Les Gagères works perfectly and it’s a great way to spend the first half of your day.

• Domaine Rostaing (Ampuis, Côte Rotie) – no fee ; a little over 1 hour I think

• Founded about 50 years ago by Rene Rostaing, who was mentored by and inherited the vines of Albert Gentaz and the Albert Dervieux. Today, the wines are made with a lot of whole bunch fermentation and just a very small amount of new oak.

• We met Pierre who was working and a staff member from Canada took us down to the cellar to taste the wine

• They asked us to not share photos on social media, but the cellar was pretty small and modest. One thing I found particularly interesting was that the barrels were marked up with the plots/wines they contained previously so Pierre can decide what juice goes in which barrels based in part on what the barrels contained previously.

• We tasted the following cuvees: 2022 Le Vassal, 2015 Coteaux du Languedoc Puech Noble, 2020 Syrah Les Lézardes, 2021 Côte-Rôtie Cuvée Classique Ampodium, 2019 Côte-Rôtie La Viaillère, 2012 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne, 2023 Côte-Rôtie Cote Blonde (barrel sample)

• I haven’t had Ampodium before, but the 2021 was very good (although will benefit from some age) and wasn’t diluted/thin/underripe/etc. from the challenging vintage

• The 3 single vineyard cuvees were the real standouts.

• The 2012 La Landonne is excellent with notes of olives, bacon, game, violet, and red and dark fruit, with really nice round tannins. It should continue to improve with age for quite some time, but this is already wowing me.

• The 2023 Cote Blonde sample has a beautiful and explosive nose of violet, bacon, raspberry, plus a bit of olive thrown in on the palate. Voluptuous and concentrated, with really impressive tannins considering how young it is. Already an excellent wine that wowed me as well

• We met Rene on the way out. He’s 80 and still goes into the incredibly steep vineyards! He was very friendly although I think his English is a bit limited.

• Although others have said they weren’t able to buy wine from the domaine, we were able to buy quite a few bottles.

• Overall, these were my favorite wines of the day and it was a pretty great visit. I recommend stopping by.

Day 8 – drove from Vienne to Tain- l’Hermitage + tasting in Northern Rhone (Cornas and St. Joseph)

Tain- l’Hermitage is a really charming town with great food, wine shops, wine bars, etc. and is very walkable. Of course, it’s also conveniently close to get wineries.

• Domaine Auguste Clape (Cornas) – no fee; 1.5 hours

• Champions of no frills, old school, old vine Cornas who seemingly haven’t changed how they make their wine in a very long time. They use all of the stems and 0 new oak. When I asked what they do when they need to replace or add a barrel, they said they order a new foeder then give it to someone else to age white wine, and then once the barrel is old enough to be neutral, they’ll take it back and start using it.
• I honestly didn’t even expect a response to my email as I didn’t think they accept visitors (and they don’t have a website and don’t list an email address), so I was shocked when they said we could visit. I’m not sure if we were super lucky or if they have more visitors than I thought, but some workers at other wineries in N. Rhone said we were lucky and they hope to be able to visit some day.
• The outside of the building is no frills, like the winemaking, with no sign. We were greeted by Pierre Clape who told us about Cornas in general and their holdings, and he took us into the cellar and poured their 2022 St. Peray for us. I never had the St. Peray before and was surprised how much I loved it. It’s great with good stone fruit and acidity, and it’s very expressive. Not sure if it ages well, but I don’t think it needs to age. Pierre doesn’t speak much English (or doesn’t speak it with ease), so after a little while, his son, Olivier took over as our gracious host.
• We went down to the cellar and it was like we took a time machine. It just feels ancient down there. We were literally in the middle of staff making the wine as they had just blended the 2022 Cornas upstairs and were in the process of putting the newly blended cuvee back into the super old foeders
  
  

• Olivier first gave us 4 barrel samples of the 2023 harvest. They ferment and initially age the wine (until April) more by vine age, rather than parcel, so each sample was made from different aged vines. (I think it was about 20 years, 40 years, 80 years, and 110 years or so). It was amazing and so illuminating to taste the differences between vine age without a huge difference in location/site, treatment/aging, etc. The younger vines were a bit fruitier with more vegetal/olive complexities and rougher tannins while the older vines were more concentrated and meatier / more animal and wild, with a bit more refined tannins. You really notice the value of really old vines.

• Next, we tasted a barrel sample of the 2022 Cornas, which again, was just blended that day.

• We then tasted the following wines: 2021 Cornas Renaissance, 2021 Cornas, and the 2007 Cornas.
  

  

• I thought the ’21 Renaissance is very good / pretty great, and showing pretty well now, but next to all of the Cornas and Cornas samples, it felt less powerful and complex

• The 2021 Cornas is “too” young, but it’s a great wine. I saw it recently got a relatively lower score from Vinous, but I think it’ll age into an excellent wine, and while it was a bit more lithe and maybe slightly less meaty than 2020 and 2022, I thought it was pretty similar to 2020, and 2022 (i.e., it didn’t stand out as a weak vintage), and I grabbed a bunch of bottles of it on my trip and I’m very excited to enjoy them when they’re mature.

• The 2007 Cornas (which had already been open for 2 or 3 days) bowled me over, even from the first sniff. This was just magic in a bottle and was easily the best red wine I had on the trip. Meat, olive, decaying mushroom, integrated tannin… everything you want from a Cornas/Northern Rhone.

• Outstanding visit! A must go if you have the chance.

– Pierre Gonon (Mauves, St. Joseph) – no fee; 1.5 hours

• Probably the (near) unanimous #1 producer in St. Joseph. Making great wines from old vines (including former Trollat vines), practically no clones (about 95% massal selection), organic farming and horse plowing, and neutral oak.

• We were met by Jean Gonon (and 5 other visitors) and taken into Gonon’s especially dark, small cellar.
  

  

• We tasted a barrel sample of 2023 Les Oliviers and two barrel samples of 2023 St. Joseph, which is already a pretty wine with purple fruit, violet and olive

• We then tasted the following cuvees: 2022 Chasselas, 2022 Les Iles Feray, 2022 St. Joseph (bottled about 2 weeks ago), 2021 St. Joseph, 2017 St. Joseph, 2022 Les Oliviers, and 2012 Les Oliviers

• The 2023 – 2021 St. Josephs are all decently similar – pretty wines with purple fruit, violet, and olive. 2022 is a bit tight now and should open around November (according to Jean), 2021 is a bit more elegant, but not at all thin or diluted or underripe. 2017 St. Joseph was my favorite showing more olive tapenade and almost a decaying olive/forest floor note starting to creep in. It’s still coming out of its shutdown phase.

• The Les Oliviers were all pretty great or better. I liked 2023 more than 2022 as is currently has more expressive fruit. These have nice body, great minerality and sufficient (but not high) acidity. Jean calls them winter whites.

• The 2012 Les Oliviers really surprised me. What a great wine. Opening a young Les Oliviers is like opening a young St. Joseph – it’s nowhere near its potential. The 2012 hit me with a lovely, distinct (and unexpected) note of masa, as if I had just unwrapped a hot tamale.

• Excellent tasting. Highly recommended.

Well, that’s my trip to France. Hopefully this helps at least one person plan a nice trip!

[Shan_A]

Awesome Rhone notes! Thank you for sharing. Did you find any consensus in how vignerons described the 2022 and/or 2023 vintages, or how they compared to pre-2021 vintages

[Faryan_Amir-Ghassemi]

Wow you visited some legends. This is great reference and great collateral. Sounds like an awesome time.

[Gerald_Sng]

What an amazing trip!

Kicking myself now for not trying harder to buy wines from Rostaing!

[J_Rock]

Honestly, I talked more about 2021 than 2022 and 2023 for whatever reason, and my questions tended to pertain more to winemaking/farming choices.

2022 in Rhone was very warm and dry, but I think it was pretty common for it to be so hot that the vines shut down a bit (instead of getting overripe). I forget who said this, but they were pretty concerned about the 2022 crop, but they received some rain near (but not during) harvest which kind of saved the vintage in terms of quality. Unfortunately, from what I heard, 2022 produced another very small yield, which is unfortunate after the very small yield in 2021 (from frost). Interestingly, Clape’s yield was so small that, for their Cornas wines, they decided to blend all plots and make just their Cornas cuvee instead of making the Cornas and the Cornas Renaissance (and this was done after just a little bit of blending trials to ensure it worked [and it did, the wine, so far, seems very high quality as usual]).

I discussed 2023 even less, but from what I heard there was relief that yields were up. The quality seemed very high from the barrel samples I had at Rostaing, Clape, and Gonon.

The few growers who discussed 2023 in Champagne said it was a challenging vintage, although I don’t remember the details. I do remember, however, that Adrien Dhondt’s 2023 vin clairs certainly didn’t taste/feel like they came from a challenging vintage.