TN: A fine 2006 Northern Rhone lineup

S

slaton

Slaton Lipscomb
I had the good fortune to taste a mostly stupendous lineup of 2006 Northern Rhone wines at a retailer tasting on Friday. All but the Gaillard were wines I'd be happy to have in my cellar.

2006 Patrick Jasmin Cote-Rotie
Gentle nose of blood, tobacco, toasted capsicum, with violets emerging with time in the glass. Sweet, ripe fruit on the palate with intense bacon and smoke. Silky, classic CR texture on a fair, feminine frame with perhaps a touch of inobtrusive wood. I liked this a lot, although it did shut down a bit in the glass.

2006 Pierre Gaillard Cornas 'Les Combes'
Sweet oak, vanilla, olive, candied black fruits, some volatile acidity. Surprisingly revolting; I moved on in a hurry.

2006 Thierry Allemand Cornas 'Chaillot'
Strongly reductive nose with barnyard and rubber tire. Palate is floral and red/purple-fruited, very pretty texture, but again lots of reduction. Great acid structure and fine tannins but really tough to taste today.

2006 Auguste Clape Cornas
Charming nose with sweetly ripe, floral syrah fruit, salami, toasted kasha and capsicum. Attractive palate with beautifully ripe yet fresh fruit, nice acid and some dark minerality. Pretty clean for Clape which I usually find a bit rustic, if charmingly so. Really good and quite generous for current drinking.

2006 Thierry Allemand Cornas 'Reynard'
High-toned savory, smoky nose with bright, pure fruit, celery stick and white pepper. Silky, rich palate with bright, fresh fruit, savory and smoky notes. Strongly mineral, roasted capsicum back palate with firm acid and remarkably fine tannins. Full and complete; hauntingly great.

2006 J.L. Chave Hermitage
Spicy, savory olive, mineral nose. Ripe, juicy fruit with more olive and smoke. Mouthcoating intensity, with great acid and quite astringent, grippy tannins. Full of promise but it shuts down hard in the glass; this is not for current drinking. Has the makings of something special.
 
Nice retailer!

The few '06 N Rhones I've tried I liked.
I'm hoping I can find the Jasmin for a decent price, the rest, well N Rhone has gotten pricey lately.
 
It's generally a superior vintage to 2005, which received much praise from some quarters, but to my palate is too often overripe and/or unbalanced.

As I posted in another thread, the Gaillard is 50% new oak. Some people never learn.
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by Claude Kolm:

As I posted in another thread, the Gaillard is 50% new oak. Some people never learn.
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How much?
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Interesting -- a quick and dirty search of the web looks like it varies from $33 at Vinfolio in SF to $56 at Burgundy Wine Co. in NYC. What's the motto at BWC -- if you can find a higher price, we'll beat it?
 
toasted kasha
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Sorry for the pedantry but isn't this redundant?

Otherwise, sounds like a great tasting with some very nice wines.

Interesting to read the 'roasted capsicum' descriptors in the Reynard. I think I know what you mean although it might be offensive to some. Some of your other descriptions (high toned, celery stick) make it sound like it wasn't the ripest wine. But then you also say it was 'full and complete'. Being able to balance all those elements must make it pretty fun to drink.
 
I recently had a wine that tasted like toasted capsicum. It was like a wild roller coaster ride!

I've certainly had soggy kasha, although perhaps that was a flaw in the preparation. I suppose Rahsaan's point is that kasha cooked well would be toasty, but I know certain kasha fans who would dispute that contention. Is kasha being toasty a fact or a preference.

Interesting.

Rahsaan: when would you use the word capsicum and when would you use the word cayenne?

Otherwise, sounds like a great tasting. Good company and lots of fun.
 
originally posted by Rahsaan:
toasted kasha
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Sorry for the pedantry but isn't this redundant?
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Language is hard sometimes. Call it my continually inadequate attempt trying to describe a cold climate syrah element relating to ripeness. Somewhat analogous to tobacco or green pepper in cabernet sauvignon. The rest is subjective, but to me it sometimes comes across as a grainy, cooked kasha aroma, other times it's the roasted capsicum (not bell pepper) note; usually a little bit of both. To me it's quite attractive as long as it's not the only thing going on.

Interesting to read the 'roasted capsicum' descriptors in the Reynard. I think I know what you mean although it might be offensive to some. Some of your other descriptions (high toned, celery stick) make it sound like it wasn't the ripest wine. But then you also say it was 'full and complete'. Being able to balance all those elements must make it pretty fun to drink.
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Yes, we're on the same page here.
 
originally posted by Joe Dressner:
I recently had a wine that tasted like toasted capsicum. It was like a wild roller coaster ride!
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Sounds like when I tried to put up a few quarts of a sauce made from fresh habanero peppers. It was a sweaty day, like 95 or 100F outside. I really should have been wearing gloves, but I wasn't. At some point nature called, and well, the rest could be accurately characterized as a wild roller coast ride!
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
As I posted in another thread, the Gaillard is 50% new oak. Some people never learn.
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Which people?

The wine was appalling. I wasn't surprised to see North Berkeley on the back label.
 
originally posted by slaton:
the roasted capsicum (not bell pepper)
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Your dichotomy is lost on me. Isn't that like saying "the roasted Allium (not shallot)"?? Aren't bell peppers every bit as good a Capsicum as any habanero? Must they produce a birth certificate?
 
originally posted by Joe Dressner:

I suppose Rahsaan's point is that kasha cooked well would be toasty, but I know certain kasha fans who would dispute that contention. Is kasha being toasty a fact or a preference.
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I thought kasha was roasted grains (usually buckwheat). It can then be used and prepared in various ways but by definition it has already been roasted/toasted.

Of course there are differences between toasted and roasted. I guess that was my mistake!
 
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by slaton:
the roasted capsicum (not bell pepper)
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Your dichotomy is lost on me. Isn't that like saying "the roasted Allium (not shallot)"?? Aren't bell peppers every bit as good a Capsicum as any habanero?
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No.

As you know, unlike other members of Capsicum, bell peppers contain no capsacin. Capsacin as a molecule may be odorless and flavorless, but one can hardly argue that it doesn't affect the way our sensory apparatus perceives a pepper.

So to me a line can easily be drawn in the sand between bell peppers and their brethren.
 
originally posted by slaton:
originally posted by SFJoe:
originally posted by slaton:
the roasted capsicum (not bell pepper)
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Your dichotomy is lost on me. Isn't that like saying "the roasted Allium (not shallot)"?? Aren't bell peppers every bit as good a Capsicum as any habanero?
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No.

As you know, unlike other members of Capsicum, bell peppers contain no capsacin. Capsacin as a molecule may be odorless and flavorless, but one can hardly argue that it doesn't affect the way our sensory apparatus perceives a pepper.

So to me a line can easily be drawn in the sand between bell peppers and their brethren.
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Sure, I see the difference pretty clearly as well myself. My twitch is with your nomenclature--unless you have more botanic influence than I realize, bells haven't been drummed out of the genus and "Capsicum" includes them as well.
 
I've consistently had much more of an issue with reduction on the Chaillot rather than the Reynard.

Anyone have a similar experience or know why this would be the case?
 
Important notes, thanks. I am one of those who could care less if the wine has (for example) raspberry or blackberry nuances. Balance, tannin, acididity, mouthfeel, and overall impression are more important, IMO.
 
A couple of questions and a 2006:

I read somewere that Allemand had increased his use of sulphur, and his Chaillot 2004 was also very reduced the last time I had it some months ago (we had the impression it was due to sulphur). Is this so?

Chave 2006 was on the bottling line when we visited last january so it was not the best of times for tasting. We shared some bottles with Gerard and there was certainly some difference between the wines he crafted and those made by his son; as I have experienced myself and others here have noted. FWIW, we noticed that the stainless steel vats were dated in 1998 and wondered if this change affected the wines...

We were very impressed by the cote rotie(s) of Chambeyron-Manin we tasted this year in the March in Ampuis. Mikael and Caroline Manin have 0,4 hectares in the Cote Brune and their wine is crafted in a rustic and traditional fashion. They sold their 2006 and 2005 for 22 in the march. BTW, labels need some marketing advice
 
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