You will have the best time in the Rhone. Its a wonderful place, beautiful scenery and great people. I just happened to dig up my magnum opus on a trip to the rhone back in 09 from the Squires board for a similar post on the vinous board. So figured I’d post here as well. Hope its somewhat helpful (its very long):
My wife, Amanda, and I just returned from an incredible journey through the Rhone Valley in France. This board was absolutely instrumental in helping me with appointments, hotel and dining recommendations, and general advice, so the best I can do is to pay it forward to future travelers with my notes from the trip. These are going to be very long, so I will break up into pieces, and work on segments every day hopefully, similar to my report from the California Coast last May. I will start by saying that the Rhone is AMAZING, and the people we met with both in the North and South were incredibly generous with time and wine. Great people.
So the fun started pretty quickly. You know you are not on a US airline, when the wine comes around and they are serving classified Bordeaux. Might not be the best bottle, but 2004 Gruaud Larose is certainly better than the usual crappy airplane wine. Got to love Air France. A glass of Bordeaux (and some foie gras!) and it was time for a little shut-eye. Flight landed in Paris, a cab to the hotel (Westin), and off to Allard for lunch. Thanks to many on the board for recommending Allard for the Bresse chicken. Delicious! Running on fumes, so sadly no wine with lunch. The waiter looked at us like we were crazy! Managed to stay up all day and had dinner that night at Pinxo, the more casual restaurant of Carre des Feuillants. That night we had a Bordeaux that I’d never heard of before, but I feel like part of the beauty of being in France is trying some of the lesser known wines that don’t always make it around. There will be plenty of “geeky” wines later…Wine was 2005 Chateau du Maine, from Graves, a very nice food wine, not overly complex, but enjoyable and given our 3 hours of sleep on the plane, just perfect for our first night. After a second day in Paris, and 13 hours of sleep, we had a lovely dinner at a great bistro near the hotel, called Royal Madeline. We kept our dinners somewhat low-key in Paris, since we had a ton of gastronomic dinners scheduled for the Rhone. Food was excellent, and some of the best French Onion Soup I’ve had. Wine with dinner that night was 2007 Roger Neveu Sancerre Clos Des Bouffants. Very nice wine. Excellent acidity. Good nose of grapefruit and other citrus fruit. Pretty delicious and reasonable enough.
Next morning, we took the TGV to Lyon, and took the food and wine up to the next level. We spent one night in Lyon, at Cour des Loges. The hotel is in the old city of Lyon, which is very cute for walking around. The hotel is very nice and I would highly recommend a stay there. For dinner that night, we went to Bocuse. Being that it was our first time in Lyon, we felt it was somewhat of an obligation to dine at Bocuse. The food is very old school, but was absolutely delicious. With the amuse bouche and foie gras courses, we drank 2000 Trimbach Gewurztraminer Vendages Tardives – beautiful nose of honey, pear and apricot. Very balanced on the palate with a long finish and good acidity. In a very nice place right now but seems to have much life ahead of it. With the balance of the meal, we drank the big and burly 2005 Domaine de Saint-Prefert Chateauneuf du Pape Collecion Charles Giraud – what a wine! Powerful, big and masculine wine but with enough balance to be extremely enjoyable. Nose rocks! Super spicy and lots of grilled meats. Definitely tannic but the finish was oh so pretty and long. Really loved this wine. All in all, a killer meal at Bocuse, which was followed by a great tour of the kitchen. Great first day in the Rhone.
Day 2 in the Rhone was the beginning of our domaine visits, and this is where its going to start getting long, so this installment will end with this day. This was an action packed day of appointments in both Ampuis and Condrieu.
Our first appointment of the day, at 10:30 AM was at Domaine Rene Rostaing. We were met promptly by Rene, who had several bottles opened and ready for our tasting. He led us down into his cave, which is literally in the shadow of the Guigal castle. He first had us taste his project from the Languedoc, which was 2007 Coteaux du Languedoc Puech Noble – this was a blend of Syrah and Mourved, with good structure, fresh acidity. A nice food wine. Then it was on to the “big boys” of Cote Rotie. First up was the 2005 Cote Rotie La Landonne – in tasting this and many of the subsequent Cote Roties, the word that kept jumping to my mind was “Fresh”. These Syrahs just tasted “fresher” and livelier than Syrah from anywhere else. Maybe it was partly the moment of being in the Rhone…the Landonne was very elegant, with black fruits and lots of roast meat. A lovely wine. I asked Rene what he thinks is the optimal age to drink his Cote Roties, to which he said around 10 years old. He then kindly poured us two 1998s to see how they are holding up after 10 years. First was his “regular” 1998 Cote Rotie – still so fresh after 11 years. Definitely smells more mature on the nose, with more mushroomy and leathery components in the background, though with the fruit still in the foreground. Great wine to drink today. He finished our appointment with his 1998 Cote Rotie La Landonne – like the regular cuvee, still very lively and drinking wonderfully today, though has years ahead of it. Weightless on the palate and delicious black fruits. YUM! Very generous of Rene to open these 98s for us. I had drank very little Rostaing prior to this visit, but left a great fan of his wines.
Our next appointments were not until the afternoon, and we had some time to kill before the afternoon, so we rang the bell at Domaine Patrick Jasmin, and despite not speaking a word of English, Patrick welcomed us to his cellar for a quick tasting. From bottle, we first tried his 2006 Cote Rotie – was not quite as “vibrant” as the 05 Rostaing that we just tasted, but still a nice Cote Rotie. More red fruits mixed with black than the Rostaing. Medium bodied. Nice but for me I preferred the Rostaing. Patrick then poured us a barrel sample of the 2007 Cote Rotie – this was more impressive than the 2006. More structured, better concentration, I think the 07 will definitely be the better of the two wines. Very kind of Patrick to take us in, with no advance notice and extend his time to us…typical of the type of people we met in the Rhone. A class act.
Ampuis is a tiny town, and everyone seemed to recommend the same place for lunch, so we hit up Les Cercle Des Vignerons for lunch, and had a typical “French” lunch. I love how in France, between the hours of 12-2 everything is shut down for lunch. The restaurant has a wine shop attached, so we went next door and picked up a bottle of 2007 Ogier La Rosine Syrah Vin de Pays – this could be one of the best 20 dollar bottles of Syrah around. By now, I think everyone knows the quality of the 2007 vintage at all price levels in the Rhone, and this wine is a good example of that. Very clean and crisp palate, nose of smoke, earth, blackberry. We drank half the bottle with lunch, and drank the rest a few days later in our room in Avignon, and it was still drinking very well. Great QPR.
We had a very busy afternoon scheduled, with 3 appointments, beginning at 2PM with Christophe Pichon. I’d like to thank board member Deene Lindsay, for helping me to secure an appointment here. Pichon is located about 15 minutes away from Ampuis in the town of Chavanay. I had never had his wines before, as they are very hard to come by here, and was generally very impressed with his offerings. He was very kind and spent an hour and a half with us and would have spent more time if we didn’t have to head to our next appointment. We began with the 2007 Viognier – this is a wine for those who hate oak. Very minerally, with some citrus. His entry level viognier, which was clearly eclipsed by the 2007 Condrieu – in retrospect, this might have been my favorite Condrieu of the trip. It actually reminded me a bit of an Aubert Chardonnay. It was medium-full bodied, but with excellent acidity. Lots of lemon and tropical fruit. Was happy to be able to buy a bottle of this at the domaine to bring home. An excellent Condrieu. Next up was 2007 Saint Joseph Blanc – 100% Marsanne. Thought this needed some time. Honey and candle wax on the nose with some floral notes. I preferred the Condrieu. 2007 Saint Joseph Rouge – 100% Syrah, very much enjoyed this and another QPR if you can find it. Peppery, meaty, nice balance. Solid wine. Christophe makes 2 different Cote Roties, which we tasted next, starting with the 2007 Cote Rotie Rozier – this features 10% Viognier and sees 13 months in new oak. It was very elegant, lots of red and black fruit. We then headed to the barrels, where we tried his top wine, the 2007 Cote Rotie la Comtesse Cote Blonde – this was nearing the end of its 18 months in new oak. 100% Syrah from the Cote Blonde. Awesome wine with tons of fruit, very lush, very meaty. Excellent. Finally onto a few 2008s, the first of the trip. As we continued our journey south, it became more and more apparent that 2008 is going to be much more irregular than 2007, with the quality really depending on the attention to detail of the winemakers in the vineyards. We first tasted the 2008 Cote Rotie Rozier from barrel – there was a lot of acidity showing at this point, not as much fruit as the 2007. Too early to tell for me, but not the same type of balance right now. We finished up with 2008 Cote Rotie la Comtesse Cote Blonde – this was still undergoing Malo, so I reserved judgement for now. To wrap up, I think very exciting things are coming from this small producer, and his 2007 Condrieu and Cote Roties are definitely wines to be on the lookout for.
The busy day continued down the road in Chavanay at Yves Cuilleron. Cuilleron has a very modern style tasting room, which is a stark contrast to most of the places we visited on the trip. As we had an appointment, I was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to meet with Yves himself, but there was a very nice and helpful associate at the tasting bar, who poured just about all the current releases for us. As we tasted quite a few wines, I’ll keep the notes somewhat brief. 2007 Saint Joseph Blanc Saint Pierre – 100% Roussane, medium bodied, decent “quaffer” but not to exciting. 2007 Saint Joseph Blanc Les Lombard - 100% Marsanne, much preferred this wine. Light bodied, some exotic fruits and honey. Bought a bottle of this and brought to dinner later in the trip. 2007 Saint Peray Les Cerfs – 100% Marsanne, weird bottle, tried a second bottle and was the same, not my fave. 2007 Condrieu Les Chaillets – tropical fruit, lychee, very good. 2006 St Joseph Rouge Les Pierre Leche – pretty full bodied, bit meaty, solid wine. 2006 St Joseph Rouge Les Serine – two bottles tasted, both seemed very overripe and somewhat oxidized. Pruney. Disliked. 2006 Ripa Sinistra Vin de Pays – much more approachable, lots of fruit, very good drinker. 2006 Cornas Les Vires – again an issue I thought with overripeness, smells too porty for Cornas. 2006 Cote Rotie Bassenon – best of the reds so far, good tannins, nice finish. 10% Viognier. 2006 Cote Rotie Terres Sombres – old vines, elegant, fresh acidity, good fruit. Best red tasted. 2007 Condrieu Vendage Tardive Ayguets – nice sweet wine. Honey, pear, could have used a touch more acidity, but very nice.
After Cuilleron, we headed back to Ampuis for our 5PM appointment with Stephane Ogier. I highly recommend that any traveler to the North Rhone make an appointment with Stephane. He is a young, enthusiastic winemaker, who is making some truly killer Syrah, and he is very generous. We must have spent close to two hours with him, and also had the pleasure to meet his father, Michel. We began in the barrel room with the 2007s. Stephane is very high on his 07s, and thinks that they are his finest vintage in quite a long time. We started with 2007 L’Ame Souer – comes from a vineyard outside Vienne, it’s a full bodied wine with nice roasted meat notes and a good entry level wine from an area Stephane is high on. We then tasted several barrel components that will go into the regular 2007 Cote Rotie. The first barrel sample was mostly Cote Brune – it was stunning, gorgeous, balanced, and so “fresh”. Perfumed nose of flowers, meat and spices. Next was a sample from the Bute de Mont (sp) Vineyard, near Cote Blonde – this will add a really floral component to the finished product. Next was a sample from the Champon Vineyard which had nice structure, good fruit. I think this Cote Rotie when the final blend is done, will be a blockbuster. Next up, we tasted the 2007 Cote Rotie Lancement – Stephane described this wine as Cote Rotie for Burgundy drinkers. I definitely agree with his assessment. Lighter in color, more delicate and utter silk on the palate, Burg fans should line up for this one when its released. The last barrel sample was the 2007 Cote Rotie Belle Helene – what a change of pace from the Lancement. This is the big sexy wine. Very lush, concentrated, but with excellent focus on the palate. A blockbuster. We then left the barrel room and Stephane opened a couple of bottles for us. We started with the 2006 L’Ame Souer – a bit rounder fruit on the palate at this stage than the 07 equivalent. I preferred the 07. 2006 Cote Rotie – nice finesse, bit bigger than the 07. I like this wine to drink on the younger side. 2006 Cote Rotie Belle Helene – really nice wine. Impeccably balanced, while big and lush. While not quite to the level of the 07, still an excellent wine. Raspberry and licorice, yum! Stephane then busted out a really nice surprise. We were talking earlier about some good wines from the 89 vintage, so he brought up from his cellar a bottle from his father, the 1989 Cote Rotie – this is a blend of Belle Helene, Lancement and several other vineyards. What a great surprise. A really awesome drinking mature wine. Great condition. Nose shows leather, moss and earth, with still a lot of life to the fruit. AWESOME. We wrapped up the tasting with his first Condrieu, the 2007 Condrieu – minerally with pineapple and grapefruit, palate is fresh with good acidity. A very good first effort at Condrieu. This tasting was a great conclusion to the day. Stephane is making some killer wines, and his 07s really rock the house. I can’t wait until they are released stateside.
We stayed that night at Beau Rivage, just a few minutes away in Condrieu. There were differing opinions on this hotel in previous posts and I think I now know why. We were originally a building not connected to the main hotel and the rooms were very dated, walls were very thin and we could hear when people were showering and talking…disaster! We then were switched into a room in the main building, and it was like a completely different hotel. The room was beautiful and very quiet, and we had an amazing view of the Rhone river from our balcony. My advise to anyone staying at Beau Rivage, is to get a room in the main building! They have a fabulous gastronomic restaurant at Beau Rivage, where we enjoyed another incredible dinner. We started with the 2006 Faury Condrieu – I had previously enjoyed this wine, so I was excited to try it again. Amanda and I had a difference of opinion on the wine. It was very steely and minerally, and she felt there wasn’t enough fruit to compensate. I enjoyed it a lot more. Stephane Ogier was kind enough to give us the rest of the bottle of the 1989 Ogier Cote Rotie, so we happily enjoyed that over the remainder of our dinner.
Well…long first installment…good times in Paris, and an incredible first day of tasting in Ampuis and Condrieu. Its amazing how much more of a connection you have to these wines when you drive by the steep hillsides and see the amazing vineyards. I’ll try to get up the next installment tomorrow…coming up an insane tasting of over 20 wines with Pierre Gaillard, then down to Hermitage, dinner at PIC…
So the next day began with a delicious breakfast at Beau Rivage. Honestly, no one makes omelettes like the French…if anyone knows someone in New York City that makes omelettes like they do in France, please clue me in…but I digress…
Our first appointment of the day was at 10:30 with Pierre Gaillard. Let me first say that it is worth making an appointment with Pierre, if only just for the incredible drive up to his place. Its situated in a medieval town called Malleval, full of twisty tiny roads, reminding me of a previous drive up to Big Basin in the Santa Cruz Mountains of California. When we arrived to our appointment, there were a group of four Frenchmen from Lyon who would be joining us for our tasting. They made for quite the entertaining visit, as we tasted over twenty wines, and they didn’t spit a single one…yikes! Anyway, Pierre was a gracious host, patient in explaining each wine in both French and English, and generous in pouring us his vast array of wines. When Amanda asked him why he makes so many different wines, he responded by saying, he is just curious whether he can make great wines from all different varietals and different locations, and likes to try to make the best wine he can from each scenario. We started with some whites from bottle. Given the vast number of wines, I’ll try to keep each note as short as possible. First up, 2007 Collioure Blanc – tastes like a steely sauvignon blanc to me. Crisp and simple. 2007 Saint Joseph Blanc – 100% Roussane, banana, kiwi, nice acidity. Solid Wine. 2007 Cotes du Rhone Blanc – Viognier based wine, nice pineapple, but was not as good as the 2007 Condrieu – really nice, violets, tropical fruit, really great Condrieu. Then it was off to the barrels, starting first with the 2008 Viognier – was still fermenting, very vibrant with banana and tropical fruit. 2008 Chardonnay – from Crozes Hermitage area, didn’t know they grew Chard there…was tough to tell on this one with fermentation still going on.2008 Muscat – delicious, sweeter, super acidic. Very nice. 2008 Marsanne – floral, very nice. 2008 Rose of Syrah – still fermenting, weird. 2008 Syrah Vin des Pays – pretty tannic and tough to tell anything from the sample right now. 2008 Crozes Hermitage Rouge – little sour, starting to get a little more insight into 2008 which is looking tougher than 2007. Onto the bottles again! 2007 Faugeres – 40/40/20 GSM – much softer compared to the previous barrel samples, a nice QPR. 2007 Faugeres Parole de Berger – Syrah with a little Grenache, spilled wine on my note, oops! 2005 Madeloc Colliour – Nice classy wine, lots of red fruit. Enjoyed. 2005 Mourvedre Colliour – whoa, very dry and tannic, tough wine. 2007 St Joseph – dark fruit, flowers, gentle palate, very nice. 2007 St Joseph Clos Cuminaile – 100% Syrah – very nice, here I go with that Fresh descriptor again, good tannins, black fruit. Yum. 2007 St Joseph Le Pierre – great acidity, very good wine. 2007 Cornas – much meatier on the nose, super tannic, definitely needs time but I think will drink nicely in a few years. 2006 Terres de Vienna Asiaticas – more plumy and pruney, big fruit, mouth coating finish. 2007 Cote Rotie – 10% Viognier added, 50/50 Brune/Blonde, saving the best for last here, really nice, grilled meats, delicious. 2007 Cote Rotie Rose Pourpre – absolutely wonderful, full bodied, great red and black fruits. Excellent. 2006 Cote Rotie Rose Pourpre – so lively on the palate, great as well, excellent fruit on nose and palate. WHOA, now onto some dessert wines…2005 Banyols Blanc Asphodeles – fortified white wine, a touch sweet, almost tasted like brandy, interesting aperitif type wine, but not really up my alley. 2008 Late Harvest Condrieu – one of the lines of the trip when drinking this wine, one of the other gentlemen, in describing the appearance of the grapes that went into this wine said, and I quote, “this wine comes from grapes that look like the testicles of an old man.” We were all laughing hysterically. The wine itself was amazing! Red delicious apple, honey, great acidity. Awesome dessert wine. 2006 Red Banyols – not my fave, tasted oxidized to me. And we finally wrapped up with a Banyols Solera, which I’m pretty sure Pierre said started back in 1922 – super intense. Toffee and caramel on the nose, long long finish. Cool wine. Man oh man, what a tasting. Once again, a great thank you to Pierre Gaillard for one of the most memorable tastings of our lives. I can not recommend enough visiting this fascinating producer.
Since we spent 2 and a half hours at Pierre Gaillard, we were running a bit late and didn’t have time to have a big lunch, so managed to find a cute place for lunch in the town of Serriere. Next came the first “mishap” of the trip. We had a 3PM appointment at Clape, in Cornas. We arrived promptly on time, were greeted by a lovely woman, who told us that they thought the appointment was the next day, and that everyone was out in the vineyards. She was very apologetic and offered us to come back the next day, but alas, it was not meant to be, and it will be a stop to add to the list for the next trip.
I’m not one to dwell too long on misfortune, so we decided to make the best of the rest of our afternoon, and headed over to Tain l’Hermitage. We used the opportunity to pop into Chapoutier for a tasting. I was hesitant to make an appointment here because I didn’t want to sit through 2 hours of video, etc, so I’m happy we were able to make a quick stop at the tasting room. They have by far the most modern styled tasting room of anywhere in the Rhone, so were well equipped for our visit. We started with the 2007 St. Peray – a very plain wine, nothing for me to get excited about. Next up 2007 Grange de Mirabel – Viognier, a pretty wine, light on the palate, but I was more eager to try the Condrieu. 2007 Condrieu Invitare – now we are talking. Steely minerality, tropical fruit. Really nice and my top white that we tasted. 2006 Chante Alouette – Marsanne, more full bodied, honey on the nose, very good. 2006 Les Meysoniers Crozes Hermitage – Syrah, good nose of black fruits, but felt clipped on the finish. I think I sounded like I knew what I was talking about so they opened a few of the better wines for me, but not the top Ermitage cuvees. 2006 Hermitage Sizeranne – much better than the Crozes, lots of black and blue fruit on the nose, tannic but nice finish. 2000 Cote Rotie Mordoree – nose a bit stinky like cheese almost, but in a nice way. Long finish. 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac – red fruit, lots of it, great soft and lush palate. Really nice. We wrapped up with a pretty cool bottle, 1986 Rivesaltes Grenache – fortified Grenache, very balanced on the palate, no trace of alcohol, still good fruit. Cool wine.
I think when we wrapped the tasting at Chapoutier, it was about 4:30, and we were feeling energetic, so we decided to hike to the top of the hill of Hermitage. What a great time. The hike was fairly challenging, especially the last bits, as it gets pretty steep and the footing is not great. But we made it all the way up to La Chapelle at the peak, and the view from the top is pretty spectacular. Would highly recommend the climb to anyone visiting the town. I feel that it also gives you a real sense of the terroir as you walk up the hill and pass right through all the vines. Pretty breathtaking, in more than one way…
That night we stayed at PIC, in the town of Valence. While there is nothing to do in Valence, its about 20 minutes from Tain, and it is really a destination to visit just for the restaurant. The hotel was very nice, modern rooms, with really nice bathrooms. But there is no question the star of the show here is dinner. We had dinner at the main restaurant, which is now a Michelin 3 star, and given we don’t know if we’ll ever be back (now I think we will), we decided to go nuts and order the PIC Generations menu, which takes you through courses that Sophie has created, as well as those from her father and from her grandfather. Dinner was breathtaking, the finest food we’ve probably ever eaten, and a show all in itself. Can not recommend enough. We were in a Janasse mood that night, and started with the 2007 Janasse Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc – we really enjoyed this wine. Cool tropical fruit and flowers on the nose. Pretty full bodied for a white with a nice finish. Very happy with the choice. With the balance of the meal, we went with the 2001 Janasse Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Chaupin – we both LOVED this wine, and I thought its just a hair behind the 2001 VV. Raspberry and kirsch on the nose, lush and full bodied on the palate. A really sexy and opulent wine.
That’ll do it for this installment, quite the day. Insane tasting at Gaillard, the meal of our lives at PIC…how to top that…in the next, Sorrel Hermitage for breakfast, lunch at Beaugraviere, and then off to CdP to meet Mr. Julien Barrot…
And onto the third batch of notes…
No rest for the weary…after an insane dinner the last night at PIC, we got up bright and early for a busy day. First off, breakfast at PIC, amazing…another awesome omelette, and some sweets to die for. After wrapping breakfast, we headed to Tain l’Hermitage for our morning 10:30AM appointment with Marc Sorrel. If you want to see “old school” Rhone, this is the place to visit. Marc is basically a one man show, with a small cave in the center of town. He had some really old bottling machines, where he and one staff member do all their own bottling, one bottle at a time. UNREAL! Very kind man, he took the time to pour us two delicious wines from bottle, starting with the 2006 Hermitage Blanc – this was a nice way to start the day. Honey, tropical fruit and floral aromas on the nose, it was very round and seductive on the palate. Very nice. He then poured us the 2006 Hermitage Le Greal – really enjoyed this, lots of red and black fruit on the nose, grilled meat, a bit of pepper. My kind of wine. Very long finish, with good tannins. I asked Marc about upcoming vintages, and he indicated he was very pleased with his 2007s, but that 2008 was very difficult…seems to be a common thread.
We said our goodbyes to Marc, walked around Tain for a bit, picked up some yummy Valhrona chocolate, and were on our way for lunch at Beaugraviere. We managed to spread the trip out into very manageable drives by slowly working our way south, so this 1 hour drive, was the longest of the trip…not bad at all. Beaugraviere is delightful when you walk in. The proprietor, Tina, greats you when you enter, and you can really tell this is a well run family operation. Lunch was outstanding…feeling a little shot after a huge dinner, we took it easy on the menu here, but even their standard price fixe lunch was exceptional. The wine list is really unbelievable. Tons of old CdPs at very reasonable prices. However, to keep up our stamina for the day, we just went with a half bottle, of which the selection was not quite the same as the 750s, and went with always reliable 2006 Charvin Cotes du Rhone. Reliable and very nice with lunch.
Following lunch, we were off to Chateauneuf du Pape! The excitement was palpable. We had some time before our 4PM appointment, so we stopped in at Janasse, which I had been planning to find some time for. Janasse does have a tasting room which is open during business hours, and pours pretty much their entire lineup. I am a huge fan of Janasse wines, so I was very excited to see what they had in store, and I was not disappointed. Kicking it off with the 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc – thought this was just as good as the 07 Blanc we enjoyed with dinner the night before. Similar floral aromas, nice fruit, and good mouthfeel. Next was the 2008 Cotes du Rhone Rose – not for me, powerful and too much alcohol. Oh well. 2006 Cote du Rhone Village Terre d’Argile – hmmm…little pruney and raisiny here, maybe bottle open too long, not sure. Onto the stars of the show, the JUST BOTTLED 2007 CdPs. A sign of things to come, really good red fruit, licorice, good tannins, nice finish. Yum. Next 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Chaupin – gorgeous, similar aromas but more concentration on the palate. So good. Star of the show was 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes – the first big WOW of CdP. More structure, more acid for balance, but amazing richness and finish. So good I picked up 2 bottles at the domaine!
Well that was a good way to whet our appetite…if you thought that our 2 and a half hour marathon at Pierre Gaillard would be the longest appointment of the trip, you would be wrong…enter Julien Barrot at Domaine Barroche, one of the real young superstars of Chateauneuf du Pape. Julien is enthusiastic about his winemaking and his excitement is infectious when you are around him. When we arrived for our 4PM appointment, Julien piled us in his car and drove us out to the vineyards. He took us to several of his different vineyards, many of them containing old Grenache vines over 100 years old. It was so incredibly educational to see the different soils, listen to his explanations in the vineyards, and then taste the resulting wines afterwards. As we were wrapping up in the vineyards, I asked Julien his take on the recent vintages. He said that 2007 was such a perfect year, weather wise, that everyone made great wine, which is why he is most proud of his 2006s. Because it was not a perfect vintage like 07, it took much more attention to winemaking to craft great wines, which his 06s are for sure. He said 08 is definitely not a washout like 2002, and that many great wines will still be made, but that it’s a real winemakers/growers vintage, and that much more care will go into making great wines in 08. He’s very honest and forthcoming about his wines, which is great to see. So after spending quite some time out in the various vineyards (check out Molesworth’s video blog for an idea, on WS), we headed back to the cellars to try the wines. We started with some 08s from barrel. 2008 Censaulte (sp) – for Signature cuvee, big nose, but elegant and fresh on the palate, a nice component to the wine. 2008 Syrah – for Signature cuvee, mmm…bacon fat…I like. 2008 Mourvedre – for Signature cuvee, spicy, animale, lots of tannins and acidity, definitely the backbone of the Signature cuvee. 2008 Grenache – from Grand Pierre vineyard, TBD which cuvee, much sweeter, red fruit, glycerin (in a good way), very nice. Then a few “finished” 2007s from barrel. 2007 Fiancee – 50/50 blend of Syrah and Grenache, great spice and read fruit on the nose, good structure from the Syrah. Think this will be very nice. 2007 Pure – Julien said it was a bit closed for him today…closed for this wine was still pretty explosive. Lots of kirsch and raspberry, awesome mouthfeel. I love me some 07 CdP! Next Julien opened a few bottles for us. First up was 2006 Signature – this was very tight, maybe needed some air. 2006 Fiancee – much better out of the gate, drank nicely right away, very rich. 2006 Pure – total seduction on the palate, super silky, red fruit, sweet kirsch, spiciness, really nice. 2004 Fiancee – nice and soft on the palate, good fruit, some licorice. Solid wine, but to me the 06 was preferable. Next Julien opened up a few dessert wines that he makes for himself, and doesn’t sell, which was pretty cool, the 2007 Late Harvest Grenache and 2007 Late Harvest Clairette (sp), both very nice, but didn’t take detailed notes since we can’t buy them. Well that wrapped up one heck of an awesome tasting. Julien spent about 3 hours with us, and couldn’t have been nicer. I encourage anyone who visits CdP to reach out to Julien, for a memorable and very educational visit. Great guy and great wines.
Seeing as how time flew right by, we headed straight to our hotel in Avignon, Hotel d’Europe, which was fantastic. We were finally setting up shop for more than one night, and we couldn’t have been happier with the hotel. Great location, very luxurious, wonderful. It was pretty late, so we checked in and headed right to dinner, at La Fourchette. Really cute little place, which was packed, not one open table. This was our first low key dinner in a while, and this was the perfect spot. Excellent cooking. We enjoyed it so much we went back the next night. Wine list wasn’t great, but we ordered a bottle of 2001 Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape – very traditional cdp, pretty earthy and spicy, but missing a little something. Decent wine but not great. Oh well…plenty of great wines to try tomorrow…
Coming next, a visit with the Queen of Cdp, Laurence Feraud, and a taste of the freakishly good 07 Da Capo…life is good
Time for the 4th installment, sorry about the delay…these trips take so much planning, and from time to time things don’t go as planned. As we had a bit of a mishap earlier in the trip with Clape, misfortune reared its ugly head again today. We had an 11AM appointment with Andreas Becker at Vieille Julienne. We had an issue that morning where my flight got incorrectly cancelled, and we ended up having to spend most of the morning on the phone with Air France, AMEX, etc. I watched the time tick by and had to make the dreaded call to Andreas…”we are stuck at our hotel and won’t be able to make it”. The toughest call I’ve made in a while…such is life, and I guess visiting Vieille Julienne will have to wait for our return trip to CdP. Alas, one cannot remain down for long when in the paradise of Provence, so we finally wrapped up our business with Air France, walked around Avignon for the rest of the morning, grabbed some lunch, and picked up our palates off the ground and headed back to CdP.
If there is one way to get over the disappointment of missing an appointment, it’s a visit to Domaine du Pegau. We were greeted for our 2PM appointment by Laurence Feraud. First off, I must say that the fact that she took the time to visit with us is amazing. She was preparing all day for a surprise birthday party for her dad, making all the arrangements, and running back and forth during the appointment. Nevertheless, with kindness typical of those in the Rhone, she spent over an hour with us! In chatting with Laurence, I was impressed with how much American wine she drinks. Way more than anyone else we met in the Rhone. Just a cool tidbit. We started off with 2008 Pegau Blanc – didn’t take much of a note on this, mostly Grenache blanc, nice wine, round in the mouth. Next, Plan Pegau – I asked Laurence is she drinks this with lunch…she said she doesn’t drink it, made me laugh. Anyway, decent enough but my attention was on what was next. 2006 Reserve – very interesting nose, super earthy, lots of incense, spice. Really nice. Next we tried from barrel the 2007 Reserve – much rounder and silkier on the palate than the 06. Really sexy. Lots of red fruit, kirsch, spice. Really good. Then, from barrel, a real treat, 2007 Da Capo – WOW! Explosive and massive nose. Red and black fruit, smoky, meaty. Concentrated and huge on the palate, but not alcoholic at all. Reminds me of a Sine Qua Non from CdP. After she poured this for us, she had to run out for a few moments, so Amanda and I just savored the wine. Easily in the running for wine of the trip. Laurence came back and then capped off the tasting with the 2005 Cuvee Laurence – really just a touch behind the Da Capo, this was beautiful. Somehow managed to be rich on the palate but feel light as a feather. Very balanced. So spicy on the nose, to me just what I hope for when I reach for a bottle of Pegau. So, a great visit to get our day back on track! Laurence, if you read this, hope your dad’s birthday party was a great success!
Had a short while before our afternoon appointment, so popped in, just across the street at Domaine Roger Sabon. I haven’t drank much of Sabon’s wines before, so I was interested to give it a try. There was no Secret left, they said it was all sold out, so they poured the rest of the 2006 CdPs, starting with the 2006 Les Olivets – hmmm, a little sour on the palate. Better on the nose, but the palate killed it for me. 2006 Reserve – better, sweeter red and black fruit on the palate. Nice wine. We wrapped our quick “pop-in” with the 2006 Prestige – much more polished. Spicy, licorice, nice tannins, very nice wine.
So after our quick interlude at Roger Sabon, we headed to our final appointment of the day, at Chante Cigale. We were met by Alexandre Favier, who is 26 and working on his 10th vintage! How’s that for impressive? He was heading out to Germany for a big wine tasting event, so he introduced us to Jean Yves, his cellarmaster, who guided us around the facilities and then led us to a tasting. I have enjoyed a few of Chante Cigale’s wines lately, a very good wine in the more traditional CdP style, so I was very excited for this. We started off with the 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape. Whoa, spicy nose! Nice red and black fruit, but a little tight right now. A step up, for sure, was the 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes – also spicy, meaty, very luxurious on the palate. Excellent. Then we tried a few 05s, starting with the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape – lots of fruit, but hints of “animale”, very good structure, rustic in a good way. Next was the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes – love the nose of this, very rustic, roast meats, black fruits. Big tannins and lots of structure. Definitely my kind of wine. Because Rhone white are generally pretty big, we noticed that a lot of people like to drink the whites after the reds, somewhat of a new concept for us. So on we went to a few whites. First was the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc – very nice on the nose, smelled almost like a Sauvignon Blanc to me. Very crisp. Nice wine. We finished up with the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Extrait Blanc. If I recall, 2007 was the first year Alex made this wine called Extrait. He made a red and a white. I believe because the vintage was so good, he took just the very top lots and made a small amount of these wines. The white was 100% Roussane, from stainless steel. It was a little sparkling, which dissipated quickly. Very elegant, nice tropical fruit aromas. Enjoyable. I was very pleased with the wines coming out of Chante Cigale. I think they are doing very good things, and it is definitely a name to keep an eye out for.
So another day of tasting comes to a conclusion. One low, many highs…we headed back to Avignon, walked around the charming city and popped in Mirande for some afternoon tea and hot chocolate. Let me tell you, that was the most decadent hot chocolate I’ve ever had in my life. It was literally like drinking melted chocolate. WOW! We enjoyed our dinner the previous night so much, that we decided to go back to La Fourchette again for dinner. We called ahead and they said it was okay to bring in wine with dinner, so we brought a bottle of Yves Cuilleron Saint Joseph Blanc Le Lombard, that we picked up during our visit to Cuilleron. I made a note earlier on the wine, and it showed similar, so I won’t repeat the note. Very pleasant wine. Another delicious dinner at La Fourchette. Great place.
Alas, only one installment remaining…visit to Clos St. Jean and tasting of their amazing 07s, visit to Cristia, and one last blowout dinner at Christian Etienne, with a sensational bottle of 2003 Mon Aieul. Wishing everyone a nice Passover and Seders, to those celebrated.
Alas we come upon my final installment, detailing our final day in the Rhone. The last day spent in any wine region always evokes many emotions. Some sad, that you are leaving, what seems like paradise. But mostly joyous, as you can reflect fondly on an incredible trip, one that you will remember forever. With that, we grabbed breakfast at Hotel d’Europe, and then headed to Chateauneuf du Pape, to begin our day.
Our first appointment, at 10AM, was with Vincent Maurel, at Clos St. Jean. The domaine is in the middle of town, but is entirely inconspicuous with no sign, and if you didn’t know the address, you would never know its there. As it was the only time that fit our schedule, Vincent very kindly agreed to meet us at the domaine on Saturday, and we had the pleasure of not only meeting him, but meeting two of his absolutely charming young sons. They were so well behaved, and pretty good at English as well (both under 10 years old). Vincent walked us through the cave, talking with us about his winemaking, the meanings of the different cuvees, etc. He also mentioned that they are going to start making a new cuvee, only bottled in Magnums, called Sanctus Sanctorum (sp), which will go entirely to the US, and only be produced in top vintages. He is very humble for someone scoring close to 100 points year in and year out. So Vincent led us to the back of the cave, where we began our tasting. We started with the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc – pineapple, grapefruit, floral, really nice acidity. Very enjoyable white. Then a quick barrel sample of 2008 Grenache – very nice red fruit on the nose, lots of fruit. Still undergoing malo so tougher to get a good read on the palate, but based on the nose, one of the better 08s tasted. Up next was the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape (regular non VV cuvee) – very nice, very rich. Smoky nose, like a fireplace with red and black fruits. Big but balanced. For comparison, Vincent then poured us the 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape (same cuvee) – totally different wine. Animale, bacon, licorice. More lightweight and elegant on the palate, vs the intensity of the 07. Nice wine to drink now. Up next, the big guns, 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape la Combe des Fous – Good lord, intensity! Dark fruits, meaty, good tannins. Huge finish. WOW. Next, 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina – amazing as well. 40% Mourvedre definitely gives this wine a seriously structured backbone. Definitely tighter right now than the Combe, but major league concentration, great finish. Tons of fruit. Also amazing. You can’t go wrong having either the Combe or Deus in your cellar. Right now I prefer the Combe, but maybe in 10 years, they will switch places. Great stuff. One note, 08 was tough for Mourved, so Vincent said he’s not sure yet if there will be a Deus in 08. So another great visit came to a conclusion, we said our goodbyes to Vincent and his kids, and continued on our way…
We only had another appointment at 2PM this day, so we checked out the ruins of the old Chateau in the center of town, and did a pop-in at the Cave du Verger des Papes. This is probably the coolest wine shop I’ve been to, just awesome. There we met, Anne, with whom we did a quick tasting. First up was the 2007 Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape – really nice. Typical of 07 CdP. Good red and black fruit, excellent pure feeling on the palate. Very nice. Next up was 2006 Giraud Chateauneuf du Pape – have never had a wine from this domaine but I was pleasantly surprised. Spicier than the previous wine. Kirsch, cherry. Nice. 2005 Saint Henri Chateauneuf du Pape – very simple, didn’t get much from it nor care much for it. 2001 Bousquet des Papes – pretty bretty smelling. Rustic. Short on the finish. Not stellar. Next up, 2006 Clos du Caillou Chateauneuf du Pape les Quartz – much better, very pretty nose, raspberry on the nose. Very nice on the palate. Very balanced. Nice to drink already. Did some quick whites, 2007 Saint Henri Prestige Blanc – weird, coconut on the nose and palate, a little spice. Okay. Wrapped up with 2005 Esprit d’Henri – this was pretty. Muscat. Sweet, honey, peach and mango. Nice dessert wine. After this, we popped upstairs to the restaurant for lunch, which was excellent, and then headed back to tasting…
Our final appointment of the day, and of the trip(!!) was at Domaine de Cristia, just over in Courthezon. We were met for our appointment by Baptiste Grangeron, a very nice and soft spoken gentleman, who along with his sister, pretty much handle the whole operation at Cristia. Their wines don’t really get around much to NY (or at least wine shops I frequent), so I was excited to try the lineup. Baptiste was very happy with his 2007s. We started off with some of the “lower tier” wines, beginning with 2007 Grenache Vin de Pays des Portes de Mediterranee – this wine, which he sells for 4 EUR was definitely good for the price, approachable, easy drinker. 2007 Cotes du Rhone – smells like baby CdP, dark fruit, gentle palate. Another good young drinker. 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape – from sandy soil, concrete tank, nice red fruit, elegant. Easy drinker. 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes – great color, 100% Grenache, traditional more rustic style nose, nice full bodied wine with good finish. Liked a lot. 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape – better than the same cuvee from 06. Bigger, sexier, lots of fruit. Very 07. 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieille Vignes – the nose was actually a little closed on this, and Baptiste concurred. He said it was a little shut down. Palate though was fantastic, very lush and mouthcoating. When it opens up, will be a monster, in a good way. 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Renaissance – 60% 100 yr old Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah – much more open on the nose, showing black fruit, licorice, spice, floral. Lovely. Tighter on the palate with pretty big tannins. Long finish. Should be a really nice wine, but needs time. 2008 Grenache – old vines, from barrel, more animale on the nose, not as ripe on palate. Doesn’t have the lushness of 07. 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc – good body, nice acidity, citrus. Wrapped up with 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Vieilles Vignes – 100% Grenache Blanc from 50 year old vines, very nice nose of peach, lemon, orange peel, and almost gunpowder. Fresh acidity but full bodied and rich. Very nice conclusion. I was very impressed with Cristia’s wines, and will definitely be seeking them out here in NY.
So our last appointment is done, what a lineup of producers we visited. Unbelievable generosity shown all throughout the Rhone. We headed back to Avignon, and that night went to Christian Etienne for dinner. We went with the tasting menu, which was really wonderful. One of the best dishes of the entire trip was their veal with black truffles (lots of them). Delicious and highly recommended. With dinner, we ordered the 2003 Pierre Usseglio Chateauneuf du Pape Mon Aieul. I have had varying experiences with 2003 CdPs, some overly pruney, some outstanding. This one definitely fell into the outstanding category. Easily one of the best wines of the trip, a real blockbuster, and a joy to drink and savor throughout the meal. Rich, opulent, exciting but not feeling overripe. Tons of dark fruits. Really loved it. A great evening.
And that was pretty much it…woke up in the morning, cruised around Avignon a bit, checked out the Pope’s palace and the famous bridge, and then caught an afternoon train back to Paris. Stayed low-key in Paris that night, just popping into a local café for dinner and actually drinking some beer! Another great night at the Westin and then back to our old friend Air France and New York.
That’s all she wrote. A great trip. Great people. Great wines and food. Amanda and I both said it was the trip of our lives. After the weekend I’ll load up some pictures and come up with a concluding summary. Happy Easter to those celebrating this weekend.
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