Iron ore, soy, smoke, and light florals on the nose. Crisp, tart with crunchy reds on the body. Sweet juice on the crunch. Salted meats carressed with white pepper. Minerality. Wonderful purity and typicity. You will not mischaracterize this wine for anything but a Northern Rhone syrah. Grippy, gritty finish with an earthy texture. More taut, linear than '09 but I think I’m preferring the '10 to the '09 at the same stage. The tartness is very appealing.
Paired very well with grilled lamb marinated with garlic and provencal spices, accompanied by roasted purple potatoes, carrots and sweet potatoes.
Unlike the '09s, where I consumed half of my meager six pack in 2 months, I’m sitting on these '10s. I also feel inclined to buy more. A wine to mature and appreciate its evolution.
My '07 VVs come in next week…
BTW, the '09 Doisy-Daene was a nice finish to the evening. Primary, but delicious.
I have a feeling that this wine will soon be very expensive, like how we read of people buying Chave for $35. The last 4 vintages have been pretty great, and very consistent.
Truth is, there will always be a new winner coming around the corner. Would be a shame, but it happens. I recall 15 years ago when Clape seemed so affordable. I loaded up on '09, but it stung my backside.
Concur…which is why I slowly purchased a case over the past few months, and I’ve been considering picking up a couple more. This is one wine that no matter how much I buy, in several years I’ll wish I’d bought more.
I’m a big fan of the '06 as well. The '07 was a bit more structured. Haven’t touched my '08s, or '09s. My case of 2010 (& magnums!) hasn’t been delivered yet. I fear where the prices on this wine is going to go. Because of those fears, I’m making sure to buy in quantities now.
For those of you experienced with this estate, or better skills at premonition than me, what’s the realistic drinking window on the 2009 and 2010, and if you have tried them, the '07 VV?
The longer the window, perhaps the deeper in the well I drill on quantities. While the '07 VV appears gone, it appears as if some '09s and '10s remain available.
Livingstone-Learmonth’s book has tasting notes. Most vintages show 10-15 year drinking windows. This was the same window given in the Crush email blast when they offered wine from the 2010 vintage. This “feels” right to me. But, I can’t comment from personal experience. I also suspect the VV wines will be longer-lived - the 06 anyway.
I’m such a numb-nut. I totally forgot I had already popped a 2010 of the Gonon. So here I thought I was trying it for the first time. Well, the first note stands, but I will add, this wine is turning more to the dark fruits and, interestingly, is throwing a subtle green streak that I find quite appealing. Simply a great wine. I went back to the source, and got back a nice reply, “LOL, Gonon is popular these days, all gone”. Of course.
I completely agree on the bottom line, but could never give it enough thought to come up with so many adjectives. It was just too yummy: oodles of pure Northern Rhone syrah fruit --oodles! – plus grip. I’ll keep some, but it seem almost a crime to age them when they’re this great young. Bottoms up!
If you can’t get more, in a very similar vein for current drinking, let me recommend the 2009 Aldo Conterno Masante Langhe Dolcetto. I would guess the Gonon has a better chance of developing with age. But for pure current hedonism, the Conterno is on a par and it, too, has some tannin to keep it fresh and make it interesting. It went very well with stir-fry chicken and peppers with cumin.
![[cry.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/8/853b6e76c6e8406be77a6727c2a27ad1672678b3.gif "cry"){kind=small}
