I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Levet and Dard & Ribo grouped together - to me, they’re very, very different! I do agree Levet needs a lot of time; the best Levet I’ve had is the 98.
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I’ve only had one, a ‘14 St Joseph, and found it more in the ‘new’ style than the classic style, but I’m definitely no expert! Just going off memory
Dard & Ribo are pretty unapologetically natural wine pioneers, whereas Levet is about as old school as it gets, so I’m trying to figure out what you mean by “new” here.
To me, the Gonon St Joe is the classic style - meaty, richer, darker fruited. The ‘new’ I refer to is just what’s becoming popular now, from what I see, not a new style of making, really. I find Levet and others, like this Balthazar, to be less brooding, more delicate, greener, more floral
Todd - love the wines. If Covid ever ends, and you get a chance to visit Cornas, reach out to Franck. Was a relatively easy visit to schedule and perhaps he will hand label a few bottles for you. He prefers visits later in the day (after 4 pm).
The lack of darker fruit and meat I see much more as the delineation between Cote Rotie and Cornas/St. Joseph, to be honest. I don’t think of the other Cote Roties that I buy as particularly meaty or all that dark fruited either - Jamet, Barge, Clusel-Roch, Faury, Benetiere, etc. (There’s some bacon of course, but to me they’re more about white pepper and are more delicate.) I consider Gerard’s base Cote Rotie just a touch modern (though very nice), but modern even further away in the direction I think of as modern - it’s a bit sleek.
It seems you prefer a meatier style of northern Rhone syrah, I just don’t think it’s a modern/newer style thing, but more of an appellation preference. Others’ opinions will vary, of course.
I had the 2014 Sans Soufre this week. Was much better than prior bottles, had less of the “natural” thing going. I like his regular Chaillot much better
What makes it an experiment other than the lack of sulphur?
It’s his young vines that wouldn’t otherwise go into the other two cuvees. Not dissimilar from Gilles nouvelle R, which are also young vines recently planted at very high altitude.
I would generally agree, and yet for me the prototypical meaty N Rhone experience that’s etched into my brain is Guigal’s Chateau d’Ampuis. Who knows why; maybe it’s a particular strain of brett or something. Actually now that I mention it, isn’t brett supposed to be one of the key contributors to meaty flavors?
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2014 Franck Balthazar Cornas Chaillot - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (10/26/2022)
Popped my last bottle of this last night, figured rather than start a new thread I'd add to this one.(Tasting note from day two, half the bottle remaining from last night, sealed in a 375ml bottle to reduce oxygen exposure)
This wine has gained a gorgeous floral profile with the air - citrus blossoms, a very ‘sweet’ and open floral note along with violets, roses. Palate is silky, great weight, fruit has become both darker and sweeter than yesterday - the wine lost some of its meaty quality but gained in briny notes as well. Grippy fine and dusty tannins give your cheeks and gums a bit of pucker - very interesting wine, elegant but also bearing some power. Long finish, nice acidity.
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The Casimir was and is really good in this vintage too. A wine of place - but you may not get that depth or intensity you’re after. Kind of like Vincent Paris Granit 30.
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Awesome
Love these wines, seems they’re slowly starting to work up towards a price befitting their quality in the region