2012 Domaine Monier St. Joseph Terre Blanche- France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph (1/15/2022)
Opened and poured out red purpleish, no browning a dollop of sediment. Out of decanter this was delish, tannins integrated, very pure syrah blue fruits with a hint of meat. But here the real pleasure is the bouquet just a delight to sniff and sniff. What a joy. My wife and I enjoyed this with Duck Lee roast pork. A match made in heaven. (93 pts.)
I had a bottle of the 2016 in October 2021 and it was in an awkward phase: not enough fruit, too much acid, strong green streak and youthful tanins and bitterness on the finish.
I had the same thing happen with a 2014 drunk in 2018 but then in 2020, another bottle showed beautifully. Not sure if it’s bottle variation or closed down phases.
I’ve had a hard time keeping my mitts off them and I’ve consumed a lot young (giving them a lot of air, at least 3 hours). But other than the 2013, which I exhausted, I’ve kept some in the cellar to try them with more bottle age.
If you do crack a 2016 open soon, please report back.
Yikes. That doesn’t sound promising. I have a bottle of the 2015 somewhere, and I’ve never tasted the producer before, so I can’t figure out if I should consume before the fruit fades…or give it a decade and hope that 2015 is better than Phil’s example?
I wouldn’t worry about fruit fading, especially a 2015 which is a good to great vintage. In fact I’m jealous as I’ve searched Wineseacher looking for recent vintages and came up somewhat short. Good for you Thomas, exclamation point.
This is a really nice wine when it’s on. I loved the 2012 several times. I started finding too much variability to keep buying. Some bottles showed a lot more brettanomyces than others. Hopefully I just had bad luck.
Here’s my track record:
2013: drank 6 bottles between April 2016 and May 2019, all of them good, all of them aerated for at least 2-3 hours, beautiful fruit, violet, great vibrancy, minerality and salinity.
2014: drank 3 between May 2017 and March 2020, 2 out of 3 were great (comparable to 2013), the one from 2018 was awkward (described above).
2015: drank 1 in 2020, all good, a little more ripe than 2013 and 2014 and showing a little red meat as well alongside the beautiful fruit and violet.
2016: drank 1 in 2021, similar to August 2018, too green and out of balance, some smoky notes though that I didn’t find in prior vintages.
2017: drank 1 in 2021, similar but a little more closed than 2014 at the same age, tiny bit of sauvage that blew off after an hour or two of air, some red meat alongside the fruit and violet once again. I’m giving those another 3-4 years before hitting them again.
2018: I was offered the regular St-Jo but not the Terre Blanche yet. Waiting for it.
I like these a lot. They show a lot of crunchy fruit, violet and can add some red meat or smoky notes. There is great minerality and/or salinity to them which makes them vibrant. Aeration has taken care of the barnyard when it’s on the nose on PnP. I would recommend to wait 6 or 7 years before starting to check on them but I haven’t been able to do that!
Anyone have the 2018 of this wine? I have one bottle, and I’m completely unfamiliar with the wine and producer so I’m wondering if I should give it a go or if it’s far too young
Todd, the Terre Blanche is the premier cuvee. '18 is a ripe vintage. Personally I think the Terre Blanche needs 10 years. The regular bottling is more approachable young though I haven’t had the 2018. My 2 sense.
I’ve had issues with reduction in recent vintages. I like the wines and have always found them approachable and aromatic on release, but the '20s in particular have been pretty reductive.
My last vintage of this is the 17. Based on prior vintages, 5 to 10 years from vintage is the window. So, that 18 should “start” drinking nicely. I used to pop Terre Blanche in it’s youth to check on them (as I bought multiple) and even young, with a couple of hours in the decanter, it would open up and be totally enjoyable. When you drink it, do plan to give it some air after pulling the cork.
And yeah… some bottles do have some more funk than others…