Happy holidays everyone. Wanting to find a book on the NR. Below is a link to something that seems interesting, but 700 pages? Has anyone read this book? Is there another one you’d like to recommend? My hunt is for something that talks about the history and the producers. I don’t mind if it is coffee table-like, provided it doesn’t gloss over the details.
Thanks a lot.
I’ve got Lermouth’s older Rhone book too, but have not read it yet, so don’t know how good it is.
It’s a great book – superbly detailed. He really knows the producers, their styles and their history, plus all the plots. His style is slightly understated for an American audience, but he’s fairly opinionated, in a good way.
I am not that much into Northern Rhone so I have not read it it great detail but it does appear well written. It is a bit opinionated, which I appreciate, otherwise it would have appear sterile.
Note that it was published in 2005.
I am reading this now. Got it through the library, but will probably ask for it for xmas as I won’t get through it before it has to go back (no Renewal on Inter-library loans!). Very detailed and I love the opinions as they help you get a feel for producers/vintages (pre 2005).
Frank… It is the best book on the Northern Rhone Valley. Easy to read, detailed, but not too geeky. He gets to the point. You can read a lot of detail on Cote Rotie and Hermitage here if you like : Learn everything about Northern Rhone, Best Wines, Wineries, Vineyards
Appreciate the feedback, thank you, guys. I’ll grab a copy of it a read.
Here’s a good example of why I like him. A certain retailer was pushing Stephane Cote Rotie as “utterly classic.” I didn’t know the producer so I looked him up in Livingstone-Learmonth, who explains that Stephane trained in Beaujolais and borrows techniques from there, including carbonic maceration and a five-day cold pre-soak before fermentation. He also includes 15% (!) viognier. You can detect L-L’s skepticism here:
“On separate tastings, including blind ones, Jean-Michel’s 2000 is an example of the wine’s ability to step out of the ordinary, but it’s a hard call to know when it will be showing well. Take low pressure – a damp, drizzly day, for instance: then you may have some of the earthiness and stinky side coming through. The Viognier presence is another issue – it can blanket the Syrah and leave the texture rather overstewed. These are the prices that praiseworthy natural handling demand —and the consumer should be aware of them.
For cross-reference, these are techniques used at Morgon by Marcel Lapierre and at Fleurie by Yvon Metras. They are the sort of progressive thinkers much needed in the often stagnant Beaujolais region; their wines can be superb but also have a hit-and-miss side to them….
Deep down, [Stephan] is desperate for this style of wine to be recognized: ‘My wish is that carbonic gas use becomes accepted as giving a maximum of fruit, a perfection of elements in the wine….’”
JLL is great. Grab the book. Wish he would update.
JLL is definitely comprehensive, has a lot of history and “personalities” info. You can borrow mine if you like, and bring it up here next time.
Absolutely recommended - and the best available …
Vintages and TN are mostly out of date so far - but for history and producers portraits - 1A+
It is the bible Frank.
I just wish it would be updated with the latest vintages (and missing some newer producers).
Do you mean Jean-Michel Stephan? Assuming so based on context and the spelling in your quotation.
Would be a pity to miss out on his 2011s based on something John wrote about his 2000s. He has really begun to figure things out.
But this is certainly a very good book which everyone interested in the region needs to own.
Though out of date and more patchy than his benchmark Great Domaines of Burgundy book, Remington Norman’s Rhône Renaissance is definitely of interest too, if you want to know about the details of historic producers’ winemaking. Depends on the depth of your enthusiasm really.
Yes, sorry – Stephan.
I don’t think the objection to one vintage. That was just the example he used.
JLL’s website dovetails nicely with the book (which is excellent) and runs £40 per year. The combination helps to update where the book left off.
Right, of course. But my point was more that Stephan’s wines have changed, notably for the better, since the book was published (try those 2011s!).
But any producer-focused wine book is inevitably a snapshot in time and hence inherently obsolescent, at least as a guide to buying decisions; so it wasn’t a criticism, just an observation.
John’s website has a lot of content, definitely a great resource and the only one of its kind to my knowledge.