Northern Rhone roundup

WINE TALK
1

Some recent notes.

  • 2012 Domaine du Coulet (Matthieu Barret) Cornas Brise Cailloux - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (4/12/2018)
    Pretty wine. Tart red-fruited nose that is smoky and briny (unmistakably Syrah) and has a zingy, raw edge to it. On the palate, it’s rather light bodied in texture but juicy and full of flavor following the nose. Flavors cling on the finish, but hardly any tannins - like many 2012s from the Northern Rhone, this is good to go for delicious drinking right now.

I’ve yet to get a proper read on Matthieu Barret’s wines as they have been all over the place, from stunningly wild and opulent to gout de souris-ridden natural wine disasters. With its slender and nearly weightless profile imbued with lots of character, this one’s on the plus side of the ledger.

  • 1998 Bernard Burgaud Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (3/20/2018)
    Just a classic bottle of Côte-Rôtie. Great nose with more than a whiff of brett, but it’s all part of the package: wild animale notes and dry-aged meat framing cool red fruit. The flavors are beautifully delineated, clear and direct with an upright sense of solidity and firmness, in the house style. Twenty years young. The year 1998 is just so good in the Northern Rhône.
  • 1998 Best’s Great Western Shiraz Bin No 0 - Australia, Victoria, Western Victoria, Great Western (3/13/2018)
    This is a fine old bottle that has really come alive with air. It’s got a classic Shiraz violets and eucalyptus/American oak nose with plummy fruit and savory balsamic aromas. Still robust but nicely resolved with a clear-running texture, there’s a rusty edge to the tangy currant fruit with more eucalyptus and creosote notes. 13.5% abv in a ripe year, which is like 0.77 Mollydookers.
  • 2016 Domaine Barou St. Joseph Un Autre Monde - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (3/5/2018)
    My first 2016 Northern Rhone wine. I hand-carried this treasure from Manhattan back to my place in Brooklyn. Delightful wine, lithe and poised and dead-on Syrah typicity. Little tiny crunchy citrusy crystalline red fruits, airy texture, great precision and clarity of flavors. I generally like Barou’s Saint-Joseph but this is especially nice, and nothing at all like the more-of-everything 2015.
  • 2010 Bernard Levet Côte-Rôtie Les Journaries - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (2/18/2018)
    Closed and fiercely tannic. A couple hours of air moved the needle a bit, but not much. This needs years of deep sleep.

Day two: More open, much easier going, lots of wild sauvage character but very little fruit. I hope this is not a fully representative bottle.

  • 2015 Domaine Gilles Barge St. Joseph Clos Martinets - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (2/17/2018)
    Flippin’ good stuff. Meaty and gravelly with some brett notes, this is expansive yet firm with a serious granitic spine. On day 2, it’s eased off but still has a great wild character and deep red-anise fruit of Saint-Joseph in a bed of baked earth. Meaty but not briny. I bought a lot of this and could use more.
  • 2015 Dumien-Serrette / Nicolas Serrette Cornas Patou - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (2/2/2018)
    Tight and not showing much, even after several hours of air. Glimpses of high-toned red fruit and savory Cornas elements poked through.
  • 2015 Jean-Baptiste Souillard Crozes-Hermitage Les Baties - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage (1/22/2018)
    Here’s a new jack Northern Rhone producer of some interest who’s all old-school, whole-cluster, no new oak in spirit. I was cautioned to decant because Souillard makes wines in a reductive style and they need air, but this was delicious from the get-go. (I decanted anyway.) This is a deep, meaty, salty Crozes, serious and savory and truly top-drawer stuff. There’s some good info on Souillard (amid palpitating tasting notes) on importer Becky Wasserman’s site; like other wines in that portfolio, this is expensive for the appellation ($50). I am intrigued, though, to try his Cornas ($100).
  • 2007 Guillaume Gilles Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (1/7/2018)
    The last of my stash, and as good as ever. With age the primary fruit has receded some but this still has lots of vigor. Smoky, medicinal and meaty, with more leather than I remember and slight camphor quality I usually associate with Cote-Rotie. Unmistakably Northern Rhone in origin. This is a superb wine and it paired brilliantly with very gamey meat (lamb neck, short rib).
2

TIL Western Australia is in the northern Rhône :wink:

Thanks for the useful notes.

3

A great report. Thanks for the survey.

Aren’t these lovely wines? I love them for the directness of their fruit, though the '10 also aged pretty well through ~2016, when I finished off the last of mine.

I like the '15, but thought it wasn’t quite up to the '10. Sounds like the '16 might be.

This drew a smile:

I hand-carried this treasure from Manhattan back to my place in Brooklyn.

4

Is that a SI unit? [snort.gif]

Great notes! Thanks for sharing

5

I had an 04 or 05 recently that was some nasty $hit: just extreme acidity, no mid-section, tart fruit…uncharming to say the least. Not looking forward to the remaining bottles. Perhaps I can sell them to Alfert? [snort.gif] I’ve had several Burgaud’s now and think I just can’t abide the style.

6

I have the '99 and '01 and they’ve never quite lived up to expectations. Like you, I’ve found they were often too tart for my tastes.

7

Made you look.

8

Very nice notes.

I just ordered the 2016 Barou St Joe Autre Monde after reading this post, and then realized that I have already ordered it. Double-score, yay! I happened to like the 2015!

I had the 2010 Levet Les J recently and liked it very much. Set them aside for 3-5 then start enjoying. This is quality stuff.

Markus, send me that stuff baby! The note on the '98 is Alfert swoon! As a traditional Cuban male, however, I have to admit that I like me sum mid-section!

9

Read carefully. Western Australia isn’t. Western Victoria is.
[wink.gif]

10

Well played sir :wink:

11

I was moved to open a '15 Barou St. Jo last night. It’s settled down and is a little less flamboyant. Really nice. I’d guess it will be even nicer with another year or two.

12

I have liked Burgaud in the past too although I never bought it regularly. Markus, John, you can split your hoard between me and Alfert! John, I could hand-carry these treasures from your place on 85th street to mine on 86th.

13

Seems far. Is a taxi necessary?

14

It depends if it’s raining or not.

15

You guys need help. As in delivery.

16

You have to handle these treasures carefully.

17

thanks Zach - i really want to try Souillard. eric’s ringing endorsement of their Crozes on IG got me looking around for it.

18

I can’t remember if it was the 99 or 03 Burgaud I had a couple of years ago but that was pretty good. Had some smoky oolong tea notes.

19

Chambers has that Barou on clearance for $15. That’s a steal.

20

Almost worth hand-carrying a case back to Brooklyn.