TN: Clape wines

Tasted through the wine of Clape’s most recent release at a local wine shop:

2016 Domaine Auguste Clape St. Péray Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Péray (1/15/2018)
This is a bit ripe and oily, compared to the fresher, crisper 2014 version (I haven’t had the 15 from bottle). Pleasant and enjoyable, but unremarkable this vintage. (87 pts.)

2016 Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis - France, Vin de Table Français (1/15/2018)
Decent darker red fruit, some dusty tannins, a little thin, with acidity slightly out of balance for the fruit. OK. (86 pts.)
Tasted through the recent release of Clape portfolio at a local wine shop:

2016 Domaine Auguste Clape Côtes du Rhône - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône (1/15/2018)
Reasonably nice deep red fruit, fairly structured, nice acidity, a nice everyday table wine. (88 pts.)

2015 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas Renaissance - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (1/15/2018)
Very nice medium dark fruit, nothing overripe, just good medium depth, nice structure and balance. I do miss some of the secretiveness and brooding character I found in 2013 and 2014, I think warmer vintages like 15 make more forward but less interesting wines. (91 pts.)

2015 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (1/15/2018)
Beautiful dark deep red fruit, nicely structured, hints of creosote, no sign of anything overripe, turns a little volcanic and stony on the finish. This needs many years. A bottle of the 99 was also open, elegant, lovely and pretty much perfectly resolved. I think this 15 has the potential to become that 99 down the road. (93 pts.)

Here’s the question: have these wines (particularly the two Cornas bottlings) crossed the pricing threshold for value? Obviously, “value” is a squishy term, and will be different for every individual buyer. Given the amount of effort that goes into farming, the rarity of the wines, history of the domaine, etc., $120-130 is not outrageous for a bottle of the big Cornas. But, sadly, gone are the days when one could buy a case without having to think about it much.

Clape is Clape. Clape is Legend.

The Clape Cornas is worth the fare. I will buy 2015. I just cannot do larger quantities at the pricing (or my age!).

I have a soft spot for this domaine, it introduced me to the glory of Northern Rhone syrah. It introduced me, more specifically, to traditional Northern Rhone syrah, the 1995 vintage, when before I had only had the modern Chapoutiers and Guigals of the world. I will admit to a little trepidation and curiosity over the critic’s scoring on the 2009 and 2010 bottlings - i.e., 99 and 100, I think - but have not broken into either six-pack. The 2010 Renaisance, as you explicitly warned me before I popped it, was impenetrable (in a good, like 15-20+ year wine sort of way). I loved 2011, did not come across to me as a changing style.

The Renaissance is generally not worth the fare. It is a very expensive “second” for lack of a better word choice. I bought in a monumental year like 2010, but at a killer price. I would rather pay the premium for “the” Cornas bottling.

The Cotes du Rhone ain’t cheap either. They are very good, I like them very much, but at $40, not so much relative to the competition.

The Vin des Amis is arguably one of the best values in Northern Rhone. I try to grab a case most every year, and actually just backfilled on 2012 when Rare Wine Company had it. At around $25 on release, it’s an excellent weekly wine. Sounds like 2016 is a little off norm.

Yup,
gotta have Clape,
drank a 96 at a Xmas party about a month ago, very nice it was

It’s true that Clape has not jumped the shark price-wise the way Allemand and Jamet have (Chave did long ago). I can raise these questions because I’m cutting back on buying wines that will be mature only when I’m 80