Cork looks great. Dark gold in the glass. Whoa! Super complex on the nose; apricots and almonds are my first impressions, but there’s so much more: cantaloupe (!), passionfruit, mandarin oranges, overripe yellow peaches, preserved lemons, beeswax, angel food cake, egg custard, toasted walnuts. I could go on and on.
Full bodied, medium low acidity, maybe a tiny bit of tannin, a hint of alcohol on the back end, long lingering finish that lasts and lasts. Like the nose, it is so complex in the mouth. Cantaloupe, lemon, baked grapefruit, pie crust, toasted almonds, a touch of spiciness that reminds me of extra virgin olive oil, and the bitterness of orange marmalade. This is not a wine of youth, it is one of maturity and sophistication. That is not to say that it is tired at all- it’s not! What an unusual and fascinating drink.
These Rhone whites are strange beasts; super complex and magnificent with age, but with low acidity and a sort of oily texture that can turn a lot of people off. Hey, I get it; these are very different wines than anything out there. I wish I knew more people who appreciate these; I usually end up drinking them solo (along with Condrieu).
I’m part of the majority (?) and not a fan of Rhône whites. That being said you’re absolutely right that the bottles I’ve had which I’ve found great were old C9P, Hermitage and Côtes du Rhône.
On the other end of the spectrum, I’ve found some young wines in some vintages where acidity was more prominent and/or the balance was better to me. I’ve enjoyed some as well. The ones that come to mind are: Monier Perréol St-Jo, Clos Bellane CdR Valréas Les Échalas, Graillot Crozes, Julien Pilon Crozes and Collines Rhodaniennes.
I’ve also found it to be true but mostly with Viognier. I’ve found Marsanne and Roussanne are helped with a little chill (cellar temp).
I prefer them more chilled than that, otherwise the alcohol sticks out too much for me. At a fairly cool temperature, I find them really enjoyable. Haven’t had an aged one that was sound yet.
I started by decanting half the bottle into a 375mL, popping it in the fridge, and leaving the rest of the bottle on the counter. It was a leisurely evening, meaning I tasted at cellar temp, but by the end of the night was drinking around room temp. The perception of the wine changes immensely at different temps, more so than most other wines, at least to me. The cooler temp tames the alcohol and I actually thought it emphasized the fruitier elements. The warmer temps enhanced the amazing complexities, but emphasized some of the way-out-there funky elements perhaps a touch more than I prefer. I liked it best just a touch about cellar temp.
I drink White Rhone very rarely, so my experience is limited, but I’ve had a few young white Chateauneufs, Cote du Rhones, and a Graillot Crozes Hermitage. I found them enjoyable, and they certainly did have more acidity (I’d say medium), but they seemed a bit more generic. I’m not sure if that’s the right term, but to me they kind of tasted like a big white that could have come from anywhere. If you told me it was Chenin from South Africa, I’d believe you. If you told me it was a Chardonnay from Napa, I might believe you too. But with the age, these top quality White Rhones seem unique.
To me, since both Roussanne and Marsanne almost always lack acid, serving them colder tends to accentuate bitterness and detracts from the texture that makes both of these varieties magical.
If the alcohol is too noticeable to me at just below room temperature, the wine is ‘out of balance’ to me.
I’ve always found cold to reduce the perceived bitterness. That became clearer to me when enjoying gin cold versus room temperature. But, i have no basis to know if that’s particular to my tastebuds or a general thing!
Found this online as it piqued my interest:
> Overall, therefore, as temperature rises, perceptions of sweetness and bitterness tend to intensify, and perceptions of sourness and saltiness tend to remain the same. Because the effect of temperature is not uniform across compounds, it can be expected that the taste “profile” of a food will change as its temperature changes. If all else is equal, at hot temperatures bitter and sweet tastes should dominate salty and sour ones. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236241/#:~:text=Because%20the%20effect%20of%20temperature,dominate%20salty%20and%20sour%20ones.
But I’ve been around long enough to know that for every article proving 1+1=2 there is another one proving that 1+1≠2 .
This is a fun bottle. The last I had was a 98, was gorgeous. I prefer these now towards room temp (not at room temp) , they just open up so much more for my palate,nmore bitter, more sweet, let the cards fall where they may. Colder in my experience hides flaws and/or can mute flavors. I’m not adverse to getting out of the cellar temp spectrum. Swirl and slow sip.
2002 was not a good year in the Rhone (I believe most considered it terrible), but to be fair, that was in regards to the reds. Not sure of the timing of the picking of the white V.V. vs. the reds.
I do love these wines, but inevitably between availability in this market and the costs, I tend to not buy. Never had a 2002.
Glad to hear this drank so well. My understanding on these is open very young or hold to 15+.
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