I’ve been telling everyone that’ll listen in the past few weeks about Xavier Gerard and his 2015 Cote Rotie. Wanted to taste it again out of bottle (twice!) before I posted my impressions.
A couple months ago I tagged along with Ryan of Golden8wines to an importer tasting. I sampled some of the wide range of N. Rhone that was on display and was generally unimpressed (particularly unimpressed by the 11/14 Levet and 14 Guillaume Gilles Cornas) as I was going down the line. I got ready to taste the final producer on the table and was ready to go grab some Pho in Westminster. The winemaker, Xavier Gerard, introduced himself to Ryan and I as having taken complete control over the family domaine in 2013. We stood there and tasted his lineup of 13-15 Condrieu, which are beautiful and fragrant. The 14 in particular (cote Chatillon) was wonderful. Fragrant baked orchard fruit and fresh cut grass wrapped into a vibrant waxy body.
He then tasted us on two Cote Rotie. The 2013 Cote Rotie which was 100% syrah. Really dark stern and tannic - peppery and black fruited - weighed more to the meaty side. But the 15… wow. Breath of fresh air - vibrant and open, the wonderful viognier added a fragrance to the wine. Immediately I turned to Ryan and told him we got to get some of this. Especially since it was less than $50!!
Time passed after we put the order in, I’ve been wanting to pop a bottle and really savor it but when the wine finally arrived we couldn’t figure out the perfect timing to get the wine to me as it was blistering hot in LA every time we had dinner, so it’d just cook in the car. Last week I had to head down to Ryan’s neck of the woods for work and stopped by and picked up the two cases I got. My buddy Steve had my family over for dinner this past sunday and we shared a bottle.
Sent one up to Norcal for a bay area tasting I was going to (notes here of the tasting) and blinded the guys. Bottle was similar both days
2015 Xavier Gerard Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (4/25/2018)
I love this wine but it needs a lot of air to show at its best. To me the wine is a middle ground between Jamet and Benetiere. Jamet being the wild wine and Benetiere being the bright red fruited cote rotie. The Xavier Gerard is fantastically perfumed on the nose from the viognier, fragrant and bright. The nose shows off a bit of the softness of the wine as the bouquet isn’t sharp, it warms up and slowly rises out of the glass. The fruit on the wine is rich but elegant, a tannic grip sits at the end, but the edges of the wine are fleshy and lively. The palate also gains a floral note from the viognier. A really pretty cote rotie.
Their viognier is fantastic alone, so it only makes sense that it enhances the cote rotie so much.
Run, don’t walk to grab some of the 2015 Cote Rotie! I believe it’s sub $50, which is a hell of a value for such a great wine. Xavier is also a nice guy, talked for awhile at the tasting. Ryan was in N. Rhone the next week and Xavier had him over. I was sent a text that the 2015 La Landonne that he makes was spectacular. i am on the hunt. With Levet & Benetiere being $70+ and Jamet being double that, it’s nice to find a high quality cote rotie for under $50.
caveat: not shilling for Ryan. Buy the wine wherever you want. Just wanted to share our mutual exuberance for this “new” producer on our radar.