Friend popped this bottle last night to show the wonders of Juge for wine education purposes, I was fortunate enough to be there to taste it. Some immediate “woahs” were made when they smelled the wine and to me the nose was actually a bit shy throughout the night.
2015 Marcel Juge Cornas- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (1/26/2018)
You can tell this wine is of the vintage, but not that it’s super ripe and solar, but that there’s this deep concentration of fruit lurking that the last few vintages haven’t had. Right now there’s a level of tannin and bracing structure keeping back the ripeness of fruit but the acidity really helps with balance out the oomph of the “bigness” on the palate. It still has all the savory goodness brambly fruit but it’s not as open knit as the 12-14 have been and forward. Structure wise it’s more like 11 but with far more concentrated fruit lurking than any of the 11s have shown.
Nose is that classic wild edge that Juge has, but shy at the moment.
This one is gonna go the distance I feel. You can just see all this gorgeous material bubbling at the surface.
I know Juge very well, since vintage 1987 …
I even knew his dog who drank Cornas out of his stem … (long gone, the dog …).
Seriously, I don´t 2nd this stirred hype about his wines … they are very good, excellent, even outstanding - and they get rarer and rarer due to his age, but I don´t see neither
the wonders of Juge
nor I can´t help because of infinite
“woahs”
I once preferred Robert Michels Geynale over Juge “Cuvee C” … and also Clape and Allemand … although it´s splitting hairs … (where was the R.Michel-hype, btw ?)
I like Juge, but I find this artificial Juge-hyping (read: I have tasted JUGE, envy me …) a bit annoying …
I don’t mind Charlie’s enthusiasm for Juge; I enjoy reading his posts. I don’t think that it’s about the scarcity. Sometimes a certain winemaker’s wines just to speak to one. Nothing wrong with that.
I’ve always thought of it in a similar way to how folks that love Musar might act of behave. I LOVE MUSAR…and it’s a wine that speaks to me like few others do. The scarcity of Juge makes it special…I get that. One day…maybe I’ll be able to track down a bottle…maybe not. Until then I look forward to reading more from C Fu because his notes about the wine…certainly speak to me and have me thinking it’s a wine I would love to try.
Joshua and Kirk have it right. I think Musar is an excellent analogy. I know a few people - one on this Board - that think Musar is one of the very greatest wines in the world. Everything about that wine would appear to be right smack in my wheelhouse, I happen to love funky, distinct wines. I’ve probably had Musar 20+ times from various vintages. And yet, it does NOT speak to me. At all. Juge, on the other hand, totally speaks to me and my very specific palate. I was hooked the first time I had a bottle, and way before they were so crazy hard to source. I just popped a 2014 last night and posted a note. Not the best vintage in this strong run of 2009-2015 vintages, but still extremely good. One of the better 2014s that I have had. Juge is not Chave, or Rayas (a wine someone above adores more than me), but Juge never purports to be Chave anyway. It does not care to be that, and it is what it is: a distinct Northern Rhone syrah cut from its own cloth. I suspect that Juge could care less about perfection. He makes what he likes, and if you don’t, that’s fine too.
Interesting note on the Musar, as I happen to feel the exact same way as you, Robert. Haven’t yet had the good fortune to even be in the same room as Juge, but my little Rhone-loving heart sure would delight in the experience.
Haven’t yet had the good fortune to even be in the same room as Juge, but my little Rhone-loving heart sure would delight in the experience.<<
Well, that´s exactly what I mean …
With this multiple “enthusiastic” reports (in this case about Juge) expectations are created that (most probably) won´t be fulfilled … and all this for close to a fortune (if you buy your own bottle).
(and prices are skyrocking even more …)
Nothing against Juge - but (e.g.) Rayas is (imho) a much greater CdP that Juge is a really great Cornas - and the price in the market is now definitely higher for Juge than for Rayas, which is absolutely stupid.
What always puzzled me: Cornas was often called “the most masculine wine in France”, deeptly coloured and structured - even more so than Hermitage, it was tannic, ageworthy for many decades and usually in need of (at least) 20 years … Clape is the textbook for it.
Juge is (rightfully) often described as “seamless”, I would add "often creamy, very red fruited and sweet on the palate, structure is there, but often with more acidity than tannin …
(don´t misunderstand it, I like Juge´s wines, and I don´t doubt, I actually know they age very well for 15-20 years) - but: is THIS a really typical Cornas ?
Juged on its own merits, Juge is excellent and unique. The pricing is silly but that’s a rarity thing like Verset or Truchot or the like. Pound for pound, I vastly prefer Allemand and Jamet. That said I’ve never had aged Juge.
Huh. I appreciate Charlie’s note. I don’t own any Juge, I think I’ve had it exactly once. So hearing about it is informative. And, frankly, given its rarity now, it is literally impossible to post something on a Juge bottle and not have it be taken by some as “bragging” or hyping - but I didn’t read Fu’s post that way at all. There are plenty of posts about rare wines, it’s kind of why we’re here, isn’t it? If everyone was posting on grocery store wines, place wouldn’t be very exciting at all…
Well, right …
I also prefer Allemand and Jamet (CR) … especially the latter …
Verset is - at least - a very true Cornas, a bit on the rustic side … but really strong …
What I can understand is the “hype” reg. Gentaz-Dervieux … this is really a style of Cote-Rotie of very high class (in the best vintages) and not available anymore …
Well, someone´s always making a profit out of it …
While my opinion of Juge is in line with Gerhard’s, I don’t see the issue with Charlie posting some enthusiastic notes. As Alan says, enthusiastic notes about rare and expensive wines are hardly an outlier here. They’re not really why I come here, but to each their own – I find much more value in, say, the thread on off-the-beaten-path burgundy or some interesting Etna Rosso.
Everyone has the right to his/her opinion. With all respect, I think you encourage the poster’s contrarian instrincts by letting him know he gets under your skin.
Many have a shtick that rankles — be it contrarian impulse posts or assigning false positive 93 ratings to every wine.
Best to ignore in each case IMO. But who am I to give advice on this board?
Fu’s notes are what put Juge on my radar years ago. Without them I likely would never have heard about it. At that time, 2012 Juge was still available in small quantities at market rate. I haven’t seen it since. My point is Fu has been singing the praises of Juge before it has become unobtainable.
To debate which Northern Rhone is most deserving of hype is certainly fair game, but I don’t see these notes as “artificial hyping”. If anything, they seem to compound the pricing problem which wouldn’t help Fu’s cause either. Unless he’s sitting on a stash and just waiting for peak-hype to sell!
I don’t think it’s the opinions that are the issue. It’s the insulting tone and the strong flavor of sanctimony and condescension, centered around a perceived notion of mal intent. Charlie didn’t invite any of that.
Decorum and respect work wonders.
On the substance of the thread, Juge was my first love in Cornas starting in 1998 (1995 release). Not too many folks in the States knew the wines then, but I would occasionally post a note on WLDG when that was the place to be. An occasional bottle in a restaurant would always be a hit. The wines had the same energy, transparency, violet aromas, red-leaning fruit (compared to the neighbors), and occasional hint of VA as the latest vintages. So good. Never tame. Never “correct”. Only Verset and Allemand ever achieved a similar place in the pantheon for my taste. To think there is some objectivity to believing other Cornas is better, well that’s just opinion.
Charlie clearly became passionate about the Juge wines over the last couple years. He shouldn’t be faulted for it. And there is a romanticism about a now retired old school winemaker who persisted in making what is widely recognized as the most Burgundian Cornas, for lack of a better term. Someone who has always professed to have learned winemaking from those using 19th century techniques. Foot trodden. Whole cluster submerged cap fermentation. Old barrels.
If the recognition is coming now, it is long overdue. In my opinion.
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