Northern Rhone Tasting at Murray's

Northern Rhone Tasting March 24, 2018

Theme: Northern Rhone, red
Vintage: No restrictions

All wines served blind (everybody brings one wine, all are bagged, randomized and poured).


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1. 2008 JL Chave Hermitage: Minerality in spades. Dense, tight, young. Rich back palate with black berry and lavender; not as gamey or exotic as other wines in the tasting. My number 3 wine, Group number 2.

2. 2013 Voge Cornas Chailles. Dense, serious, young, brooding, tight. After 90 minutes, opening nicely to garrique and blackberry, pastille. Very Young. My number 5, group number 4.

3. 1998 Jamet Cote-Rotie: classic meat and iodine. Olives to the Nth degree. Mineral and persistent; firesmoke and campfire. Loved this wine but not for the olive-faint of heart. My number 2, group number 3.

4. 2010 Dom Courbis Cornas Champelrose: minty, gamey but ultimately so international and non-terroir driven that it was not compelling. My number 6. Group number 6.

5. 1998 JL Chave Hermitage: Outrageous exotic nose with wild grilled fowl, profoundly meaty nose. Bright and boysenberry; Burgundian with rose hips. Lifted, noble wine. My number 1. Group number 1.

6. 2011 Gilles-Barge Cote Brune (Cote Rotie): olive tapenade and sausage. Bright and initially interesting; not heavy. Good chalky lift w/ dry mouthfeel. Somewhat green but not offensively herbal. Kept drifting down in my ranking. My number 4, group number 5. Disappointing for me because I was hoping to like this producer more given the relatively affordable pricing.

Any dinner with Chave is a good night. Sounds like fun.

Your note on Gilles is pretty much exactly mine. Hoped to like it cause of the price but did not care for it. Every retailer is pushing it now.

Also, 98 N. Rhone… SO DAMN GOOD RIGHT NOW!!

Nicely written tasting notes. Concise and evocative.

Guillaume Gilles or Gilles Barge?

Great line up Doug! Let me know if you guys do it again, I have a pretty good selection of older Alain Graillot wines in the cellar, and a few orher things as well.

you should read Doug’s notes instead of just looking at the rankings.

It’s pretty non-idiomatic to refer to a producer by their first name.

Did you just call Fu an idiot or an idiom, because by definition, he cannot be defined.

I feel like we’ve been telling everyone to read everything for your tasting notes to understand 93 and the context. Should apply it to your reading of doug’s Notes too

I don’t think it’s too much to ask to have everyone refer to a producer by their normal name. Quite frankly, if I have to do a bunch of mental gymnastics so that I can figure out what producer you’re talking about, it just entirely voids what you’re saying. You can do whatever you want, but I’m not going to read your posts anymore.

More seriously, it’s telling that the top three are the ones you would have guessed to be the top three. The good producers are indeed the cream that rise to the top. I’d love to do a tasting like that to see for myself.

Sounds like a fun blind tasting, thanks for the notes! Happy about Chave’s 98 Hermitage, as I’m very patiently scrimping on my last few bottles.

I am curious if the tasting group touched on any noticeable stylistic difference between Chave’s 2008 and 1998.

Brad: indeed a fun night. We missed you in SF for La Paulee.
Charlie: same! yes, 98 Rhones so good (North especially, but South too)! I was worried about 98 Southern Rhones (ripe, big alcohol), but my experience recently has been good (Beaucastel comes to mind). We plan to visit in June
A. So: I thought I was pretty clear in referring to the Gilles Barge as Gilles Barge. Had it been Guillaume Gilles, I would have said “Guillaume Gilles”. By the way I have never tried Guillaume Gilles’ wines–should I?
Matt: thanks!
Marcus: our wine group has been meeting the third Saturday of every month since 1996 (actually that is when we joined). Occasionally there are absences–we’ll keep you guys in mind!
Ramon: Good observation. The wines seemed very different with the 98 so elegant, exotic and well-delineated; the 08 rather primary still and needs time, much time. Not sure if there is a change in house style, or vintage related difference. Perhaps others can comment.

cheers everyone.
Doug

Doug, indeed you were clear. I was questioning Charlie’s slacker comment.

I am a fan of Barge’s wines; not too familiar with Guillaume Gilles myself.

Looks like a very fun night! Did Murray cook? The man knows his food (and wine).

RT

Impressive!

Richard it is funny how groups evolve, because our monthly get-togethers are now as much about the food as the wine. Pre-pours are flowing liberally, then we pour the thematic wines for the night and taste them before dinner. Each person brings 6 theme appropriate glasses by the way. The host will cook (or ‘hire’ a friend to cook) 95% of the time. This month Murray prepared the meal but ordered some additional slow cooked ribs from Matt’s BBQ, as an example. Desserts are usually a highlight as well as the requisite blinded flight of post-pours (usually difficult to take notes by this point). The meals range from ‘homestyle’ to very refined cuisine.

You know the drill. I love this group of friends (you know most of them) and the third Saturday of each month is a date we all protect and only miss under the most dire of circumstances.

The 98 is developing quite nicely. The ranking is hardly surprising.

That said, Northern Rhone is quite a misnomer, consindering that the truenorthernrhone is really in Switzerland with great rhone variatels to boot…

A tradition worth protecting and maintaining! A la prochaine.

RT