TN: 2010 Gonon St Joseph Vieilees Vignes - and some side by sides

Got together with some friends to celebrate a birthday. The 2010 Gonon VVs had just arrived so we were giddy to pop a bottle. A regular St Joseph was pulled as a side by side and I brought along a 2005 Raymond Trollat (his vines were sold to Gonon to create the VV bottling).

Other wines were consumed (90 Chave, 90 Verset were both A+ wines as well)

2010 Gonon VV is legit. Worth the wait and worth the hype.


  • 2010 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (10/7/2019)
    The hype is real on 2010 Gonon VV. It’s that 2003 Lebron draft hype and that is 100% justified. Decanted around 3pm and consumed from 8pm-12am. Plenty of repours ��.
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    The first thing to note is how unique the nose is. It smells of hundreds of tiny black berries being crushed at the same time, it’s lively and there’s so much of it. Then there’s this white flower petal and lingering smoke that wraps itself around that explosive fruit nose.
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    The wine has a mouthfeel that surprised me. It had an elegance to the texture that coaxed out great length of cool rich fruit. You feel it slowly taper away as it goes deep into the finish. I can’t remember the last black fruited syrah like this that felt so at ease and wonderful. Everything just fit together and presented a seamless package to be enjoyed. One of the all time great young N. Rhones I’ve enjoyed
  • 2005 Raymond Trollat St. Joseph - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (10/7/2019)
    I feel like every time I have this wine it seems richer, riper and more primary. Full of ripe round dense red fruit. Uber concentrated fruit smashes the palate. While the Gonon VV is all elegance - the Trollat is Stone Cold Steve Austin giving you that stone cold stunner and cracking a Bud Light over you.
  • 2010 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (10/7/2019)
    Tasted next to 2010 Gonon VV. It was interesting trying to regular 2010 St Joseph bottling next to it. The regular bottling is much thicker and muscular. The tannins have weight and the fruit gleans a more rustic earthy edge. It tastes like it needs far more time as it needed some time in the decanter to let the fruit come past the tannin wall.

Will you be taking your Gonon to South Beach?

I have not had the 2010 (or the 2009), but the 2006 and 2007 VV are ridiculous wines. Good to see someone drinking it.

Uh Fu
Thanks for the notes
Only got the 2009 and 2010 Gonon in Magnum
So I have to wait

I had the 2006 VV over the weekend and it was indeed ridiculous. Most intense note of briny black olive that I can remember in a wine. I guess the hype is warranted. Was at least on par with the 1995 and 1999 Verset and all 3 Allemand 1999s. Too bad it’s so expensive. But yeah, drinking wine is awesome.

I popped the '06 VV when Fu came to visit, it’s exceptional. The 07 VV is excellent as well, just a hair behind the 06. I have lost access to VVs after that. Bummer.

Is it $600 good? [last price I saw it at] [whistle.gif]

It really was exceptional. The only bottles I see are $400+ on winebid so I’m probably not a buyer. I guess I’d trade Bourg 1:1 for it though…

The surest way to know a wine is truly exceptional is when it defies your attempts to dissect it. That’s how both the Gonon VV and the Trollat were for me that night (also the Verset, though I’m a little biased). Whereas the Gonon VV is extroverted, a riot of fruit and flowers, the Trollat is darker and I actually think of it as the elegant one compared to the Gonon. If I had to pick my favorite, it’d probably be the Trollat. Charlie thanks again for organizing [cheers.gif]

all the wines you had next to it are at a minimum $400 a btl nowadays!

Man, you all just make this habit more addicting than it really needs to be especially when you’re finding all these unicorns.

man you are the ultimate balla !

Since you posted this also here I’m gonna paste my comment from IG also about 2010 reg. I think the reg being more tannic and rustic has a lot to do with that the VV has been aging in the cask for a quite a lot longer than the reg so it have had quite some time to mellow out. Also I bet the lieux-dits on reg have more tannic character.

I didn’t expect to be as impressed by the 2006 VV as I was. It and the 1995 Verset were my clear favorites, though that takes nothing away from the outstanding 1999s.

aren’t you sitting on two cases of the 10 VV?!

That was a heckuva night. For the ‘10 Gonon VV to be the clear WOTN (well, except apparently for Yao) when every bottle was showing well is really saying something about the VV.

Lineup was:

1975 Clos de la Coulée de Serrant (came in towards the very end of the night)
1990 Chave Hermitage
1990 Verset Cornas
1999 Jamet Cote-Rotie
2000 Allemand Cornas
2005 Trollat Saint-Joseph
2010 Gonon Vielles Vignes
2010 Gonon Saint-Joseph
2011 Allemand Cornas
2012 Liger Belair La Colombière
2013 Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Rose de Saignee
2014 Bouchard Roses de Jeanne Blanc de Blancs

you kidding ? That’s Fu level. I’m sub basement. 3 btls.

can anyone speak to whether this difference Fu noted between the VV and the regular St Joe is consistent vintage to vintage with the VV being more elegant of the two? does one bottling seem to more resemble a Trollot than the other typically?

Trollat and the VV aren’t particularly similar. Trollat is on the very opulent ripe spectrum - fruit isn’t as clean as the Gonon VV, has a bit of unrestrained wild going on.

re: VV v Reg St joe - i’ve only done the side by side once, so limited experience. But I gotta believe extra time in barrel and the fruit source make for a little less rustic approach

When they’re all showing at that level it’s impossible to objectively call one or another. Such a luxurious problem to have [cheers.gif]

Have to give an honorable mention to the 2011 Sans Soufre. Wide open and singing after many many hours of air, absolute essence of Allemand, and showed how I expected the 2000 to show (the 2000, instead, had closed up?!). Very good plus and would have been WOTN almost any other night, but that night it was #4 for me behind Trollat/Gonon/Verset

Was harder for me to judge the Gonon VV vs. the regular because the regular had been popped at the last minute. For me the salient difference is not elegance; rather the VV has an extra gear in terms of aromatic complexity and palate depth, and that somehow makes a big difference

Agreed; also my impression was that the Trollat was darker fruited than the Gonons