TN: Reds from the Northern Rhône (plus Alsace and Jura)

TN: Reds from the Northern Rhône (plus Alsace and Jura)
07/26/2021

Thanks to our favorite enabler who took delivery of our combined 2017 Benetiere orders and for setting-up a nice, small, dinner to distribute and for us to get first-hand sampling of what some of us are about to be allocated. It was also a great opportunity to catch up with familiar faces after a lengthy no-offline period and also to meet with other fun local enthusiasts.

Good Italian eats at da Umberto in NYC’s Chelsea. Included was antipasti of fritto misto and beef carpaccio for the table and individual orders of primi and secondi. I had the costoletta alla parmigiana. Delicious and tasty, and I thought and wondered about how a nice mature Sangiovese or Nebbiolo would have also made a good pairing.

The whites:

1994 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain, Alsace
Golden tint, refreshing in the palate, good acidity and length. B+

2018 Dom. Labet Cotes-du-Jura Fleur de Chardonnay, Jura
Served blind. Very forceful bouquet of fruit, varnish, and wood. The only guesses I heard included Chenin-Loire. I actually thought Jura but wasn’t bold enough to yell my guess until the last minute. Wine’s nose reminded me of Montbourgeau wines that I’ve had a few times before, but this one was smoother and less angular in the palate. Enjoyed it. B


The reds:

We jumped on to the reds and started by getting the main order of business out of the way and that is to check on our Benetiere. Greg suggested and we agreed to a flight of a single blind Benetiere, against a full-blinded 2017 Northern Rhone which was revealed to be the Levet.

2017 Vignobles Levet Cote Rotie Les Journaries
Deep dark red, young with big, rich dark fruit balanced by earthiness and nice acidity. A contrast to the Benetiere with Levet’s burliness, but the finesse is still present. B+/B

2017 Marie et Pierre Benetiere Cote Rotie Cordeloux
Still un-revealed, I counted 2 out of the 7 attendees preferring this to the Levet when we voted near the end of the flight. I am one of the minority. Obviously young, but on the feminine (if I may) side of the flight. Coolish-weather fruit feel, with good power, then hits with another bit of layered red and black berries, smooth throughout, and lingering medium-bodied goodness. If on this alone, I’m going to declare that Benetiere is back in fine uncomplicated form. B+


The rest of the reds were served “not” blind.

2001 Auguste Clape Cornas
Classic is always a recurring trait with any Clape Cornas I’ve had and this is no exception. Still with traces of youthfulness and tannin. Rustic with earth, ample fruitiness and that Cornas complexity. Slight TCA mentioned, but am not sensitive enough to worry about not enjoying the wine. B+

2004 Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale
When you get flighted with Allemand and Clape, my sense is that this was slighted a bit and unintentionally. Lesser in intensity level and perhaps need to gain more richness and completeness. Still quality in a bottle. B

2006 Dom. Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard
Unmatched in acidity level, precision, seamlessness in the Cornas flight. A most enjoyable long finish. A-


1997 Jaboulet-Aine Hermitage La Chappelle
Sweetness and ripeness. The La Chappelle “it” that I took from other vintages is present. B-

1998 JL Chave Hermitage
At the start I hear those saying this will still be young. I don’t disagree with them, because I drank versions of this with them before. This was at least a quarter of a step from being “young” and it drank very well. High pitched acidity is nicely complemented everywhere else. So good. B+

2001 Bernard Faurie Hermitage
This is one, imho, notable Northern Rhone producer that doesn’t get much air time in forums and TNs. I sensed from the group’s reactions that this was quite polarizing, with all the valid comments. Well, an old-school syrah bouquet gives way to red-fruited acidity, plump fruit, stems, and fruit that nicely veered on to the lean side. I’m happy with this. B+/B

2013 Domaine Jamet Cote Rotie
I’ve found through my experiences with this producer’s wines, that the wines can be atrociously-memorable when not drank at the proper time which is, to me, mostly on the early life of the bottle. This young, tannic wine even showed a tiny bit of harshness. This early read is not concerning to me, mostly given the pedigree and the expectation that this will show better “at the proper time.” B

2013 Vignobles Levet Cote Rotie Les Journaries
Everything about it is hinting classical. Cherries and strawberries and their good acid. Deliciously long. If I had, I’d be excited about the future, even at its already nice drinking form. B+


Just noting that my typed-into-iPhone notes are scanty and poorly organized. Will add that my wine observations also relied quite a bit on memory for information.

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Food there is good. My costoletta.


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Nice pictures and descriptions. Some top notch No Rho there!

What’s the difference between costoletta and chicken milanese / chicken parm etc.?

That’s a new term for me

Great selection of the best northern Rhone producers, appreciate the check in on the 2017 Benetiere in particular!

Yes indeed, thank you Ramon! I went rather deep on the 2017 Benetiere (by my standards) and am looking to experience it for myself later this year

The reds:

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The whites:
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It’s always amazing how everyone has a different take. I would group what I liked. Allemand was WOTN for almost everyone. It was in a different league. I brought it but credit Dmitry Gritsayenko. He swapped me this bottle 3 years ago to participate in the Juge vertical, and what a great bottle it was. The layers and waves of red and black fruit interspersed are just so insanely gripping.

Then Chave because it’s Chave. And even if I thought this was a grumpy less pure bottle than others, it still had that Chave intensity.

After that, I’d put 17 Benetiere, both 2013 and 2017 Levet, and Faurie in the next grouping. All excellent. Faurie so good in a mature plateau. The others young. Benetiere was tight and very much in the ground coffee range at first. I honestly thought it was a young Jamet blind. But it kept growing in intensity and sneaking up toward red mulberry like fruit all night.

Then Michel Geynale. A very good bottle. Low key but flavorful.

Then Clape as I tend to prefer vintages where Clape isn’t so rustic and mentholated as this ‘01.

Then Jamet and Jaboulet. The Jamet was in a very awkward stage showing oaky vanilla and lactic. And I’ve personally gone off Jamet. The Jaboulet was just outclassed by the others. Though not a bad wine.

Last but not least, the whites. The Rangen I brought was a decent bottle but needed some fatty food to cut through. I’m drinking it tonight and it’s good. Intense. Has a certain bitterness you have to be ok with in the structured acid driven finish.

The just-arrived ‘18 Labet Fleur was just flat out delicious to me. I loved its vibrancy. And the textural character of Jura chard.

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The palate on the Benetiere really blossomed with an extra day plus.

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That’s my plan for a bottle at home. Then the rest to storage.

I’ve always associated Costoletta with veal chop . Just as in chicken parmesan, mine was alla parmigiana, i.e. lightly breaded, tomato sauce, parmesan and mozzarella.

Great notes. I love that Labet. Had it twice in the 2018 vintage and it is so good (Like all whites from Labet).



I am also considering what you both are looking to do. I may hold back a bottle and send the rest to the remote storage, to try when the weather cools down.

It was a great dinner and awesome to meet a lot of you for the first time. I haven’t bought Benetiere in a few years and honestly am not mad about it. Levet, on the other hand, continues to excite me.

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Aha. I hardly ever see fresh veal in our area any more. It’s all vacuum packed now.

Fabulous line up. N. Rhône is a newer region for me but my interest is on a steady credit card breaking uptick.

I’m curious about the restaurant. I haven’t eaten there - how was the food? Anand what was the arrangement for all those wines you brought (private room, large table, per bottle corkage, some other kind of deal or commitment)?

Food is Italian and in all 2X I’ve been there, both with a wine group, I’ve not heard any complaints about the food and the service. No private room for us, we dine where the rest of the patrons dine, seating space is not uncomfortable, at least for me. In terms of wine byob deals, I would say it’s call and see what they say. We have a regular attendee who appears to have a relationship with the restaurant such that we’ve not been charged corkage. Fyi, we all brought stems as their stems may not be desirable for some, plus I do not want to add to stressing their available stemwares, as the place can get busy.

Sorry to have missed this! Thanks for the notes and impressions.

Thanks to everyone for coming out! That was a lot of fun. Honestly, the biggest takeaway is that the 2017 Benetiere is considerably better than the 15 (which, while not as bad as some made out, was not a great wine). I kept the Benetiere and had some of the remainder over the next two days, and it picked up over that time, with the fruit starting to prevail over what was to me a bit of a coffee note at the beginning. The Levet improved less, though I’m honestly surprised the Levet showed as well as it did young, since these wines need time (and I’m a big fan).

I thought the Allemand was the wine of the night, though I also liked the Chave a lot - a captivating nose, even if the palate seemed a touch less refined than I remember it. All the wines showed pretty well, I thought, though the 97 Jaboulet was probably a touch oxidized. The 2013 Jamet is an odd bird - I’m hoping it’s just going through a long dumb period, as I also own some. But it’s always been kind of a weird wine.

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I am so tempted to buy some 2013 Vignobles Levet Cote Rotie Les Journaries now :smiley: