We got together yesterday with fellow forumites Otto and Mikko to grill some beef in Mikko’s lovely Big green egg and taste a couple of young wines somewhat in the name of science. The 2017 vintage in the Northern Rhône has been advertised as a hot one and I suppose one needs to be a lot more careful with their purchases than with the previous vintage for example. Having said that I do find myself already quite a bit more hopeful at this point than earlier.
Francois Dumas probably makes my pound for pound favorite red Saint Joseph (and a superb Gamay) and I had been looking to try his Condrieu given the recommendations of several trustworthy palates. A while back we had a splendid Condrieu dinner with wines from André Perret, Xavier Gerard and Georges Vernay and it is safe to say that Dumas’s rendition is absolutely unlike any of those wines. In fact, it is unlike any Viognier I have had before. You could even say that it is a Viognier for (also) people who don’t like Viognier. The label stated 13.5% ABV and that seems very realistic, we did not feel alcohol at all here. It’s as drinkable a Viognier as they come and worked mighty well with foie gras d’oie and toasted bread.
None of us had ever had a Levet wine before but given the praise here on WB we were all excited to try the Péroline. We could all appreciate the quality and style but the vanilla note gave us all a pause. It is clear that this wine is bound to age well but the question is, will that note disappear with time? It is something I don’t come across often in the region’s wines when we are talking about competent smaller producers and in fact the only address where I can recall experiencing something similar is Pierre Gaillard (who is not exactly considered a traditionalist). I would love to hear people’s thoughts on this and whether it is typical for these wines when they are young.
2017 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie La Péroline- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (4.6.2020)
Early on relatively tight and timid so we put it in a decanter for approx 1-1.5 hours. In addition to any benefits this brought to the fore a strong, dominant vanilla note on the nose that I’m not a big fan of. Beneath that there is savory blackberry fruit, ground black pepper and some smoke. On the palate it is medium-bodied with incredible focus and comes off as one bouncing, muscular ball of concentration that carries around absolutely no baby fat. It has superb acidity and mouth-puckering tannins. Besides the disturbing vanilla note it is an extremely promising traditional Syrah that requires at the minimum ten years in the cellar.
2017 François Dumas Condrieu- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu (4.6.2020)
Notably hazy in the glass with just the slightest green tint to its yellow color. Very much waxy on the nose with canned fruit (pear, pineapple, grapes), elderflower, yeast and faint spice. The aromatics are very bright and unadulterated. In comparison to other proper Viogniers this smells of sun, not perfume. On the palate it has beautiful volume yet no overt richness nor fat. It does not lack fruit but I find the lees and elderfruit to dominate the flavor profile. It is firmly textured and possesses good drive. It is very bright with an appealing floral finish. A truly singular Viognier of very high quality.
Interesting. I have never noted even a hint of vanilla in a Levet, in any of the cuvees. Now that said, I have not had the 2017 yet, it’s in storage. La Péroline is the Euro version of the La Chav. I do not know whether there is any difference in the wines other than the label. Normally this cuvee is vinified in concrete then matured in predominantly used barrels. Levet is generally considered a pretty traditional, old world wine. I will note in an interesting blind horizontal Fu hosted for some of us, the vintages showed very differently, none of us pegged the producer horizontal, let alone that all of the wines were syrah. That latter point was a surprise to me considering I drink a fair bit of Levet. Hopefully nothing changed in their winemaking practices. I flat out do not like vanilla in my wine, hence my general aversion to many wines matured in American oak.
Exactly, based on everything I’ve read I most definitely was not expecting any vanilla. However according to JLL there is new oak used:
100% Syrah, 60% from Chavaroche (1940s), 40% from Mollard, Côte brune, Côte Blonde (1978-80), whole bunch fermentation, 3 week vinification in 50 hl concrete vats, cap is immersed, twice daily pumping overs, held at 29°C aged 30% new, 70% used oak casks, barrels 24 months, egg white fined, unfiltered, called La Chavaroche in USA, 6,000 b
His note for this vintage however does not mention vanilla or anything similar.
I did open it but am pretty confident it was regular cork - usually DIAM always stands out for its feel and tightness. As for reduction I think a Syrah this young always shows some level of reduction but this one was by no means notably reduced.
This bottling too or the others? Seems strange that a producer of this scale would use different closures for one wine, although perfectly possible I guess. I suppose you don’t find DIAM an ideal closure for Syrah then?
I was thinking it more in terms of avoiding TCA but indeed there could be problems with reduction. Funny enough, I don’t think I have ever even considered to note the type of closure when I have come across a horribly reduced bottle of Syrah. Surely some of them must have been closed with DIAM, I would think.
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