Decided to open some young Syrah (just took delivery of the Levet, so wanted to check in on the vintage), and some old Bordeaux and Vouvray for a friends Birthday. Taken from a blog I wrote…
The two Syrahs in the middle, a 2017 Bernard Levet Cote Rotie and a 2014 Thierry Allemand Cornas “Chaillot”, were, admittedly, young, but insanely pleasurable, and not at all “tough” or ungiving. Both had loads of dark fruit, and a pronounced gaminess. The Levet was full of saddle leather and charcuterie underneath the blackberry and blueberry, while the Allemand’s funkiness was more kitchen pantry than horse stable, with pronounced black pepper and mint. The 1996 Francois Pinon Vouvray “Première Trie” was in a (pun alert) sweet spot. With age, sweet wines tend to lose a bit of overt sweetness, becoming more harmonious. This wine was ethereal with honey, quince, orange preserves, and white flowers. The 66 grams of residual sugar balanced precisely by the acid (5.5 gr/liter.) The last wine was the birth year wine, a 1990 La Mission Haut Brion. This wine, in my opinion, was fully evolved, though will retain it’s regality until the birthday boy has a head full of grey hair. Lots of red fruits that are hinting at dryness, with loads of tobacco, leather, and capsicum.