First post here. I have found a lot of good information on these boards.
Northern Rhone syrah seems to be my favorite wine still as of now, but the most famous examples aren’t necessarily very affordable, nor easy to get hold of.
I have been trying to lay down a few of Graillot’s Crozes, but they are slowly creeping towards the upper edge of this price range in my market.
I did enjoy Chave’s Offerus when I had it and will look for more of that. I am also looking at JL Jamet’s Valine and CDR. I have enjoyed Cuilleron’s Les Vignes d’à Côté as an everyday drinker. A very lightweight syrah.
Some of those I have looked at are now only available in the 2021 vintage. Faury’s St. Joe, Guy Farge’s St. joe and Colombier’s Cuvée Gaby. The reputation of that vintage seems mixed. Is it still worth going after?
Any other recommendations for wines I should be looking at in this price range? Thanks!
The wines of the Cave de Tain are not very well represented in the U.S. They produce a large percentage of all Northern Rhones, everything is good, a few bottlings offer much more than you would expect.
Among their myriad offerings, two stand out to me:
Crozes-Hermitage ‘Les Hauts du Fief’ - The Cave produces almost half of all Crozes-Hermitage. This parcel selection wine is outstanding.
Saint-Joseph ‘Esprit de Granite’ - Before the Appellation was extended to the edges of the known universe, the parcels used for this bottling were at the heart of the original vineyard in Mauves.
I would avoid Saint-Joseph in 2021 - the few that I have tasted have been lean and hard. Other appellations seem to have ripened better than Saint-Joseph in this vintage.
Faury, Farge, Jean-Claude Marsanne, Julien Cecillon, etc. are good choices in general for Saint-Joseph in this price range. For Crozes-Hermitage, I like Cecillon and Rousset, also Domaine Les Alexandrins. For Cornas, look to Guillaume Gilles (about $50 in UK, for example), Mickael Bourg, Vincent Paris, Dumien-Serrette. In Côte-Rôtie, there’s Domaine Gallet, Christophe Billon, Levet Améthyste, Clusel-Roch Schistes, Rostaing Ampodium.
I don’t know about all y’all, but since JLL has been cutting back due to health, I’ve secretly been hoping that Zack has been in negotiations to take over drinkrhone.
If you liked Offerus, I recommend trying Chave’s Mon Coeur CDR. I actually like it better, though it’s 50/50 Syrah/Grenache and I don’t think it’s strictly N Rhone. In any case it’s an easy drinker with some Syrah character, and relatively cheap.
