Burgundy and Rhone white and red - and others ...

Burgundy and Rhone white and red

Last Friday I was invited by my good friend to his home in Northern Styria for a tasting with exceptional home-made food. We were 5 couples … and brought 7 bottles with us in addition.

My friend arranged the flights with great care, in most instances not knowing what we´ve brought with us, only the colour and app. the age/maturity.
Flights of two wines each - my short notes:

0) a nice Champagne which I forgot to note …

1) 2017 Crozes-Hermitage blanc/E.Pichon Very nice white Rhone, quite accessable and fruity, 90p
2) 2018 Hermitage blanc/Colombier slightly deeper colour, not closed, with potential, 92p

3) 2006 Condrieu Vertige/Cuilleron rare cuvée, fine mineral backbone, seemed to be younger, 94p
4) 2000 Hermitage blanc/Chave fully mature, flowery, open and giving, great white Rhone, very enjoyable, 96p

5) 1980 Chateauneuf-du-Pape blanc/Vignobles Arbeille/Mont-Redon my bottle, perfect fill of 3cm, seemed much younger, and the guesses were great white Burg or Hermitage, perfect balance between minerality and mature fruit, fine acidity (from the mean vintage?), 94p
6) 1991 Hermitage blanc/Robert Michelas I guessed Hermitage, slightly more stuffing that 5), but many prefered the livelier former wine, a bit oily, great length, never had this producer before, 95p

7) 2007 Sine Qua Non Syrah „Labels“ I guessed it right because one guest always brings a SQN, Syrah, very fruity, dark fruits (blackberries), structured but enjoyable, great if you like the style, could also have been a great Austrian Blaufränkisch cuvée flirtysmile , 96p
8) 2007 CdP Clos du Caillou „Quartz“ very powerful, alcohol shows slightly, but balanced and deep, not hot, very mouthfilling and long, 95p

9) 1998 Cote-Rotie „Belle Helene“/Ogier very concentrated, deep dark fruits, meathy, even a bit rustic, full-bodied with potential, 97p
10) 1996 Hermitage rouge „L´Hermite“/Chapoutier saturated, velvety, a bit more polished than 9), good minerality, long, 94p

11) 1981 Cd Beaucastel corked! A great pity! [head-bang.gif]
12) 1972 Richebourg/Clos Frantin my bottle, which I announce as „possible dead“ (fill 8.5 cm), opened 6 h in advance, the wine has evolved beautifully, yes, there was slight oxidation and volatile acidity, but the mature fruit overwhelmed all flaws, sweet on the palate and very satisfying if you accept the wine as it is, might score at 95p … or at 75p if you see only the flaws [whistle.gif]
13) 2001 Chambertin/Rousseau brought by another guest, simply a perfect, deep, complex, balanced and great red Burg, the best bottle of this vintage I ever had, 99p [worship.gif]

14) 1970 Vosne-Romanée Malconsorts/Clos Frantin when we guessed Vosne-Romanee and our host agreed I guessed the vineyard correctly, a bit leather and underwood, still structured, mature red fruits, slightly straight foreward (not the greatest vintage), but great pleasure to drink, 94p
15) 1964 Richebourg/Thevenin this was better still, sweeter fruit, deeper, perfectly mature, 96p

16) 1975 Ducru-Beaucaillou clearly a mature left banker, looking 10 years younger, I was correctly in St.Julien and though about saying Ducru, but hesitated due to slight rusticity, leaned to Leoville-Barton 1985 … ok, very nice, 93p
17) 1987 Vega Sicilia Unico brought by the SQN-“owner”, actually looked older than 17), but slightly more complex, velvet mouthfeel, I though „maybe California“ [whistle.gif] … 94p

18) 1953 Chateauneuf-du-Pape/Ponelle my friend reported that the corked dropped into the bottle over the last week, he had no idea when, however almost no oxidation, slightly astringent, but still very fine to drink, certainly cuvee with Syrah and Mourvedre, 90-91p
19) 1994 Coteaux du Languedoc/Clos Syrah Leone/Peyre Rose my bottle, unfortunately heavily corked (which was not detectable 6+ h earlier), still almost black colour, would have been a great wine [swearing.gif]

20) 1966 Corton Bressandes/Barriere Freres my bottle, my friend´s vintage, typical for the Corton hill and this masculine (if may say) vintage, structured, mature dark fruits, mushrooms, wet stones, great expression, if lacking a bit sweetness, 94p
21) 1967 Cote-Rotie/Jaboulet-Vercherre vintage of the housewife, this was still more structured, very old fashioned … and I guessed Hermitage, grapes could have been from Cote brune, La Viaillere or Grandes Places, I ha no favorite in this flight, 94p
(the vintage combination was purely by accident!)

22) 1996 Condrieu/Gerin 0,5 l A slight mistake by my friend, he thought it to be sweet due to the small bottle, slightly over apogee, withered flowers, went nicely with the cheese, but not with the dessert, 88p

A great evening with nice friends – many thanks to the host and his wife! grouphug

4 Likes

Shame that TCA destroyed two pretty special wines. I had similar luck with a mid-90s Gerin Condrieu a few years back. Not great, but surprisingly drinkable for a Condrieu with that much age.

The corked bottles are very sad, but 2 out of 22 wines = 9% … a TCA rate one simply HAS to exspect when opening wines older than 15 years - as sad as it is … (cork quality after 2005 has improved)

Beaucastel 1981 is my No.4 in my list of CdP from this vintage … after Rayas, Pegau and Bonneau Celestins … so this one hurts most (although not my bottle) …

I had a few really excellent Condrieus with age of 20+ years, Gangloff and Rostaing/La Bonette as well as Guigal/La Doriane … but usually they are fading …

Very nice!

01 Rousseau Chambertin is a fantastic wine

wish I had bought more at $110 per bottle. It was a $10 jump from 1990 to 2001. Those were the days.

Splendid lineup, Gerhard, especially enjoyed reading the report on all the white rhones. I think the only one I’ve had off your whole list is the 98 Ogier, but that remains a vividly memorable wine—all the more so in that it held its own against a full lineup of 94 and 95 La-Las.

Sante,

Mike

Michel Ogier once worked at Guigal (and sold the grapes) … so understandably the family is quite ambitious … I think nowadays Stephane is at least on par with G. … and his basic Cote-Rotie (Mon Village) is definitely better than Guigal’s CR

Thanks for the tasting notes and while I might never taste any of the wines, very interesting reading!

Thanks Gerhard. I know the Pichon, but Colombier I had only in red Hermitage.
a great pity about the Beacastle 81.
I love Rousseau and Chave - my fav. producers.