Now there’s 13. Hmm.
There was 23 when I logged in and I grabbed 10 so…that makes 13…
Fu is officially a market maker!
I think you should keep them for 10 years. Last summer I drank “his” 2006 - even though it’s his fathers name on the label, Xavier was already making the wines with his father’s help. Wine was almost in same place as it was 2013 when I first tasted it. Nose had lovely Syrah notes and palate was really smooth and complex, but I didn’t get any tertiary aromas, so there wasn’t that much evolution yet. It could have gone really easily another 10 years. But at the end it all comes to what you prefer. I like my Côte-Rôties a bit more evolved than young.
I doubled down from Wine House, so I have 8 bottles now. I suppose I’ll try one in 3-4 years and take it from there!
Claude Kolm (The Fine Wine Review and sometime Berserker) just posted reviews of a bunch of Gerard wines. He’s not wildly enthusiastic:
2015 Côte-Rôtie
This wine shows depth, intensity and spicy red fruits, but without anything else really special. About 1/3 destemmed. 89/B2014 Côte-Rôtie
Perhaps this wine was just closed down when I tasted, but I found it medium-light and easy to drink, but lacking definition and intensity. 90% destemmed. 87+/C2013 Côte-Rôtie
The 2013 Côte-Rôtie features red fruits and clarity, but it could use more depth. 50% destemed. 88/B-
He’s more positive about the Condrieus.
So much for the rah-rah club. There is way too much hype on 15 nRhones right now, and I think many will be disappointed when then open these in 10 years, thinking…“I spent this much for Californina see-rah?!”
Good, keep posting negative reviews please. Some low ratings on Chave, Allemand, and Jamet would be nice also.
Claude also published a note on the 2015 Gilles Cornas:
2015 Cornas
Gilles’s 2015 Cornas is an immense wine with plenty of extraction and depth, but also loads of tannin. There’s some minerality backing the dark fruits, but the question is whether the fruit will outlive the tannins — a common phrase, but not one I usually utter. If that turns out to be the case, this could be an exciting wine, but expect to wait at least 12-15 years to find out. 13.5% stated alcohol. Lot LC 151. ?
Just a couple posts down in his blog, Claude mentions how much he likes 15 n. Rhone. So not sure how you extrapolated that from his single note that John linked.
I had the 15 Gerard Cote Rotie this past weekend. Pop and pour, I thought it was quite ripe, lots of dark fruit, peppery notes, and tannins. Given that it’s a 15, the ripeness isn’t much of a surprise I suppose. It reminded me of the 12 Benetiere I had not too long ago. If you like this style, the 15 Gerard is for you. I preferred the 07 Levet Chavaroche I was drinking alongside it. Completely different wine obviously.
Never let the facts get in the way of your narrative.
Did he post on the St.Joseph? (didn’t see it)
I bought both the Gilles and Gerard wines, preparing for my AARP years. In 15 years my hearing, vision and palate will likely be shot! Bigger might be better in my dotage. 
I think this threat got a shout out from the SommSelect offer today. It was for the 2013 for $58 btw in case anyone missed it.
Meh, I wouldn’t go for 13 except la landonne.
I really disagree with this. Either you like this producer or you don’t. This is why folks should be putting a little extra grease on their 2015 pricing. 2013 is a very good, if not as solar as 2015, vintage in the northern Rhône. If you like the producer, you’ll like the wine. I’ve never understood people who buy all sorts of producers they wouldn’t normally buy in “great” vintages instead of buying producers who they like and admire in every vintage.
This is not a “I hate 13 only buy 15 comment” by Michael.
The 13 is 100% Syrah. The 15 has Viognier. From what he told us, 13 was the only year they did 100% Syrah due to it ripening too late to add Viognier. He’s also been doing tweaks to the process of making the wine since he took over in full in 2013. The beauty of The gerard wines is the aromatic profile from their Viognier. The 13 doesn’t have that same lift.
While what you are saying might apply in general, but in this specific instance I don’t believe it does.
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The 14 is also 100% Syrah, but I think far more accomplish since it was his second vintage. The 13 suffers a bit from “this was my first crack at this”. The 14 is AMAZING (and yes, I sell it, I’m not a dummy!)
I have yet to try the 15, but looking forward to it.
Or maybe, it was the difference between 2013 and 2014, which is substantial IME. Also IME, it doesn’t really happen that one vintage the parent is making the wine then the next vintage the child is, it’s always more gradual than that unless something tragic happened. I think the 2013 is quite a good wine and like the wines from producers I follow.
People can do what they want, but if folks only want certain vintages, they can’t turn around and complain that their suppliers raise the price on those vintages to pay for the dead inventory on other vintages.