2000 Texier St Gervais

M

Marc D

Marc Davis
I was hoping for a nice, easy, mature Cotes du Rhone to go with some chicken sausages and garlic mashed potatoes tonight. Well, this was neither easy nor simple. Shy at first pour, with only some nail varnish VA. After this airs out the wine gets a lot more interesting. Old wine leather and smoke on top, with some spiced plum, black cherry, and some dried fruits like prune. There is a little barnyard in the mix too. Definitely several layers just in the nose. The high toned VA sticks around but doesn't dominate. The mouth is medium tart and acidic, with dusty tannins at the finish. Just when I'm about to give up, some black fruit punches through in the mouth also. Very interesting, slightly difficult, good wine, probably at peak or slightly past it, or maybe too young if you are like Brad L. Fake plastic cork in this bottle. This really really makes me wonder what the 2005 version will age into, as the '05 is such a beauty right now.

Good riddance to Daschle, he was totally the wrong guy for Health. Unless Obama wants more of the same old same old.
 
I did an experiment with a half case of 00 Cadinierres...I recorked some but not all. The recorked ones faired notably better.

I am out of the Cadinierres but that is most certainly a wine for the long haul. I think it's really outstanding. I couldn't keep my hands off it. Fantastic old vine vinosity.

I think St. Gervais is a very unsung appellation. The wines last. Cadinierres and also St. Anne particularly being great examples.

Was that just kicking around your cellar?
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
It was the corkI did an experiment with a half case of 00 Cadinierres...I recorked some but not all. The recorked ones faired notably better.

I am out of the Cadinierres but that is most certainly a wine for the long haul. I think it's really outstanding. I couldn't keep my hands off it. Fantastic old vine vinosity.

I think St. Gervais is a very unsung appellation. The wines last. Cadinierres and also St. Anne particularly being great examples.

Was that just kicking around your cellar?
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Actually a recent find. After trying the 2005 Cadinierres, I wanted to try an aged version, so went on a search for older bottles and found a few of the 2000. I think the store has few left if you are interested.

When you say "it was the cork" do you mean that this bottle was prematurely aged, and would be more well preserved if it had a real cork in it?
 
Definitely. I recorked plastic corked bottles. The real cork ones aged better.

So this was a Cadinierres you were talking about?
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
The real cork ones aged better.
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Brad,
I have often heard this but never found anyone who has tried replacing fake corks with real ones and then finding that the bottles that they had put real cork in aged better. Or is that not what you're saying?
If it is what you mean, can you give me more particulars? Like how long after recorking you waited to try the wine and did you have same vintage bottles still under fake cork to compare to, etc.?
Best, Jim
 
I had a half case of Cadinierres, 2000 vintage I believe. After about a year I recorked about half of them with real cork (ideally, I would have done it earlier, but it wasn't until I opened the first bottle that I realize they were under plastic). Of the remaining bottles, the real cork ones were definitely better, esp. toward the end (last one maybe a couple of years ago). Small sample size though, and not a particularly long cycle.

I recork using an Italian made, dark blue, Ferrari floor corker. It cost about $150. It is really fun to use. I actually now look forward to plastic corked bottles for that reason. I now always check new wine and if it's under plastic I just recork it.

Of the bottles I've done this to, they've all seemed just fine.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
No.
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He has 6-8 wine geeks join him in the cellar to suck all the oxygen out of the air and drink his wines, while they watch him recork with the fancy Italian job.
 
Now that I have more free time, I've been going through my cellar and replacing all the cork-bark stoppers with crown caps and my own homemade test stoppers that I fashion from Silly-Putty and Saran Wrap. I'm hoping the Saran Wrap will have anti-TCA properties on the 7%-8% taint rate I've been finding while restoppering; so far results are mixed.
 
originally posted by Brad L i l j e q u i s t:
Definitely. I recorked plastic corked bottles. The real cork ones aged better.

So this was a Cadinnires you were talking about?
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Bonjour,

Les Cadinires is a 100% grenache wine, from very old vines coming from an high altitude vineyard with a very specific soil (limestone gravels). I think it is a long term wine, and that's why I don't use fake cork anymore. '01s under real cork are beginning to show complexity and depth now. Under fake corks they are all weird.

The plain saint gervais is a very different wine (I don't produce it any more, the grapes go into the plain Ctes du Rhne). It was a blend of grenache and carignan mainly, and party made in cold carbonic maceration, for very early drinking.

Eric
 
Bonjour Eric,

I really love your Cadinieres - I think it is a truly majestic, old school Grenache. It reminds me actually of the Pegau da Capo in that hard core old vine Grenache vinosity. A very unique wine in the Southern Rhone firmament - seeming more northern than southern in structure and style. Thanks for your note and all your efforts!
 
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