Highlights included a wonderful 25 year old Chinon and saying that if the La Landonne was a Northern Rhone, I’d kill myself!
2016 Eric Morgat Savennières Fides
Haven’t tried this producer because I’ve read about bottle variation but wow this was on. High acid, lemon curd and cream that suggested oak use, very good weight (from lees contact?) and power but the fruit was delivered in a chiselled manner. Beautifully balanced wine.
1996 Couly-Dutheil Chinon Cuvée Crescendo Clos de l’Echo
Perfect cork. Now this was definitely a Bordeaux ringer. Forest floor, tobacco, and just a lovely nose of strawberry. On the palate it is elegant and light, still young with plenty of fruit and just a hint of greenness. Got this at auction for substantially more than release price (but still way cheaper than a good Bordeaux), and all I can say is wow Cab Franc can age. 2000 Château Léoville Barton
Softer and lusher than expected, sweet red fruits that made me think it was heavy on Merlot. For a vaunted vintage I thought it would have more structure but this was more similar to the 2001 than 2005 or 2010. Still too young for my liking. 2016 Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvée 3.14
Was looking forward to this given the good reviews for 2016. Expressive nose, but on the palate it surprisingly had less structure than the 2013 which I liked a lot. Plenty of mineral red fruits as usual with Foillard but the weight that I expected didn’t emerge fully for this bottle. Agree that it might be an earlier drinking 3.14. 2017 David & Nadia Chenin Blanc Skaliekop
Brought this as a ringer to compare against a Loire Chenin. Slightly heavy handed on the oak that has yet to integrate. On the riper side, not as taut as I would like. Made in a bigger, more overt style similar to the basic Chenin that I tried a couple of weeks ago. 2006 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
I said that if this was northern Rhone I’d kill myself - shows what I know. But to be fair I don’t drink at this price point often, this was thanks to a very generous friend. The heavy oak use that made everyone think it was a Bordeaux blend of some sort, possibly from the south. On the nose and palate, the fruit was rather muted compared to a glorious 1999 that I tried a couple of years ago. Still painfully young, but I am not sure how long it’d take for the oak to integrate as the fruit doesn’t seem to be sufficient to support the massive structure. 2017 Famille Perrin Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Sinards Blanc
Blend of Clairette, Grenache blanc, Roussanne. Rich profile, lots of oak that felt like the winemaker was trying to mimic Burgundy. Didn’t have the waxy texture that I associate with Rhone whites, but definitely aromatic and low acid. 2004 Domaine de Peyre Rose Coteaux du Languedoc Clos Syrah Leone
Another one where almost everyone thought it was a Bordeaux blend. Made in a clean and modern style but didn’t have anything that stood out. Over time it became rather disjointed and alcoholic, almost like an unbalanced Aussie Shiraz. 2016 M. Chapoutier St. Joseph Les Granits
Rather nondescript wine, these are always a little too polished to tell the terroir of their origins.
i never see these wines anymore, but it sounds like they have changed a lot since the early '90s. They used to be very dark, rustic, gamy wines that were absolutely delicious in the best vintages.
My understanding was that Mme Soria’s wines had become so popular with her own countrymen that she was able to run the business almost solely catering to restaurants in France [often with Michelin stars], and that she had no further need to export.
That was the impression we had that the wine should have been as well when it was first revealed. We expected a Languedoc to be more similar to what you described, which is exactly what I get from MdG for instance.
Glad you enjoyed the Couly-Dutheil Crescendo 96! Coincidentally I opened a 97 last night - a wonderful wine I found at auction a couple of years ago, at a ridiculously low price. Compared to Bordeaux, these are of course great value, but they are also within the Chinon appellation - Couly-D’s reputation is such that their older wines like mine and yours are two or three times cheaper than equivalent wines from Joguet or Alliet.
The 2002 Dom. Peyre Rose ‘Clos des Ciste’ we had some 5 years ago was certainly on the rustic, earthy side of the spectrum. It was good!
(So were the 2000/2005 Baudry La Croix Boissee).
Yes I think I benefitted from your wisdom when deciding which bottle to bid on for auction! I recall reading that the wines became more variable from the mid-noughties onwards. Wasn’t impressed with a 2000 Alliet VV but have a 2004 Coteaux de Noire on hand to open soon.
Cheers! Great selection of wines there, have some on hand that I’ve been meaning to pop for a special occasion too! Will keep an eye out for the other vintages of Peyre Rose as it seems to be such a singular wine.
The Crescendo sees a much larger percentage of new oak. I randomly stumbled across a few bottles of the 02 at a Trader Joe’s maybe 15 years ago, for $7.99. They were good but definitely on the modern side.
Glad to be of help, Melvin! Yes, any Couly-Dutheil up until 2002 is worth getting, 2003 depends on taste because of the vintage, 2004 is now looking quite good, after that it’s a crapshoot. I really enjoyed the Aliiet Coteau de Noiré 04 last year so I hope you will too.
The Crescendo started in 95 or 96, I think. It’s more concentrated, more Alliet-like than Clos de L’Echo, with as Greg says, more oak, especially since I think 2005 onwards, because since then Clos de L’Echo sees no oak at all. All the Crescendos I have tried have been very good to excellent, particularly 97 and 01, with 02 not far behind and 04 promising better things to come. The only one I didn’t like so much was the 00. At auction over here, it goes for around the same price as Clos de L’Echo, so around 20 - 25€, which is excellent value.
