For the first time in God knows how long, our small drinking group (I was going to say tasting group, but–hey–let’s be real) got together IN PERSON to enjoy each other’s company. Oh yeah, and some wine.
You may notice that there really aren’t any tasting notes here. Just the pleasure of enjoying food and wine, and each other’s company, took precedence. In fact, there was enough precedence going on that some folks brought the wrong wine, or even forgot to bring food (yeah, RICK).
Anyway, the theme was Northern Rhone, and was to be Jamet, plus a couple of Allemands (oops, RICK). All wines were double decanted 3-4 hours ahead. There was no mistaking what these wines were and where they were from, all having characteristic black olive, meat, herbs, pepper, and deep violaceous fruit. Not surprisingly, the 1999 Jamet Cote Rotie was the WOTN, just absolutely perfect right now. (this has always been my all-time favorite Jamet). The 2010 Jamet has a nice brightness, and is nicely balanced. The 2005 is a tad imploded, but has a lot of stuffing, and between this and the 2010, you would want to have bottles of the 2005 to work your way through over the next 10 years.
The 2005 Levet Chavaroches Cote Rotie has a fairly similar 05 character to the Jamet, perhaps not quite as much there as the Jamet, but still very nice. The 2001 Allemand Cornas Reynard paled a bit in comparison with the Jamets–a little smoother, a little less power, although a couple wild notes still poke through. Some thought it might have been better 2-3 years ago.
Anyway–here’s to togetherness!
