I had the good fortune to be invited by Paul Gordon (Halcon Vineyards) to join a group of California winemakers on a week-long in depth tour of the Northern Rhone. Paul had been in contact with John Livingston-Learmonth for some time, having a transatlantic conversation about Rhone-style wines in California, and noodling on the idea of finding ways to have the two sides get to know each other a little better. At some point the idea of a tour like this came together. I have to thank Paul for including me as the only non-professional in the group. A tremendous amount of effort by Paul on this end and John in France went into setting this up, inviting and coordinating with all the participants, and just keeping it all together. I kept hanging on Paulâs email updates each month, keeping my fingers crossed that it would all come through, and was thrilled when the day arrived to actually head to the airport and get on a plane.
My role was to tag along, try not to ask too many dumb questions, and act as the unofficial photographer. So this little travelogue is really about an incredible week of California producers visiting several Rhone producers. I was just lucky enough to be along for the ride on the adventure.
The participants included:
Paul & Jackie Gordon (Halcon)
Adam Tolmach (Ojai)
Jason Drew (Drew Family Cellars)
Matt Brady (Jaffurs)
Bradley Brown (Big Basin)
Angel Davis (Fig and Thistle Wine Bar, San Francisco)
And our organizer/guide was none other than John Livingstone-Learmonth, author of âThe Wines of the Northern Rhoneâ. Johnâs knowledge of the region, itâs history, geology, vineyards, vintages, wines, and - most of all - people and personalities, is encyclopedic. Heâs been visiting and writing extensively about the Rhone for over 40 years, speaks fluent french (he often didnât even know if someone we were visiting with spoke English or not), and knows the entire region better than most of its long time inhabitants. It was a treat and an honor to be guided by him. And, as you will see, exhausting; the man never stops wanting to explore - or eat and drink - more. I highly recommend his book, and refer you to his (subscriber only) web site http://www.drinkrhone.com (no affiliation on my part).
Everyone rolled into our base at LâHĂ´tel Les 2 Coteaux in Tain lâHermitage on Sunday afternoon, and we got together for a kick-off dinner. Le Quai, right off the foot bridge over the Rhone, really nice food, wine, and service.
Paul, Jackie, Bradley, Matt on the left
Jason, John, Adam
2014 Hubert Lamy Saint-Aubin La PrincĂŠe - France, Burgundy, CĂ´te de Beaune, Saint-Aubin (4/20/2016)
Lovely medium depth, crisp, perfect balance, punches far above its weight class.
2009 Domaine des Martinelles Hermitage Blanc - France, RhĂ´ne, Northern RhĂ´ne, Hermitage (4/20/2016)
Very nice medium body, wax, nuts, long evolving finish, beautiful peach pit minerality. Excellent.
2013 Gilles Robin St. Joseph CuvĂŠe Andre Pealat - France, RhĂ´ne, Northern RhĂ´ne, St. Joseph (4/20/2016)
Very dark, deep brooding black/purple fruit, nice reserved intensity, excellent acidity, tannins underlying but not obtrusive. Gets better and better in the glass, really nice.
Happened to be a big group of Somms next to us, several times breaking into Somm songs
2014 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage - France, RhĂ´ne, Northern RhĂ´ne, Crozes-Hermitage (4/20/2016)
Fabulous fruit aromatics, nice fresh dark red/black fruit, good dose of pepper, excellent structure with a somewhat chalky grip, nice pomegranate acidity, lithesome and willowy.
Letâs do this thing
Day 1: Clusel-Roch
Our first visit on Monday morning was to Clusel-Roch (pronounced Clue-cell-Roke) in Verenay. Guillaume (the son) met us at the winery, and escorted us up the steep, winding roads to the top of Cote Rotie, where his father Gilbert and a small crew were planting a new vineyard section. The domaine has been bottling its own wine since 1969, first from just a tiny plot of vines, then gradually accumulating 1.3 ha in La Vialliere, 0.75 in Champon, 0.6 in Le Plomb, and 0.7 in Les Grandes Places, along with 0.5 ha in Condrieu. Their vineyard practices are all organic, and it is striking to see the differences between theirs and nearby vineyards which use herbicides (a temptation hard to resist, when you see how much labor is required to maintain a vineyard on such difficult terrain without resorting to the ease of chemicals).
The wines here are superb, classic versions of Syrah with unobtrusive stems, and little noticeable oak.
Gilbert Clusel and son Guillaume
Cote Rotie soil along the top of the plateau
New plantings
Half way down the mountain, gives an idea of the slope, and how hard it is to work the vineyards
The perspective doesnât really do justice to the slope these vines are on
The Clusel-Roch âgarageâ
I havenât seen this many boots outside of a Minnesota mud room
Left to right: Bradley, Matt, Paul, John, Guillaume, Adam. Youâll see a theme developing: John is almost always taking notes of some kind.
2013 Clusel-Roch âGrandes Placesâ is a beautiful wine, plenty of depth, richness, complexity and balance. The '85 Cote Rotie is equally lovely, fabulous nose, still showing a lot of youthful character, nowhere near its peak.
A striking, still youthful, almost quarter of a century old Viognier. One of the wines of the week.
The group, with Clusel-Roch family in the center: Gilbert, Guillaume and Brigitte
Now this is a stove!
For lunch we cruised back up to the top of Cote Rotie for a chilly picnic
The sign reads âVignobles Levet, CĂ´te RĂ´tie, CĂ´te Blondeâ
More to followâŚ
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