originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Back in 2010 my idea of what northern Rhône syrah ought to be was still molded by the many Brune & Blondes and several LaLas I had drunk in the previous decade. In his search for Parker points, Guigal changed the perception of an appellation in the minds of the point seekers (like me) who didn't know better. So, even if his wines from the 80s are more in tune with "our" palate, or other vintages have absorbed their repugnantly abundant nfo, I don't want to support someone who I see as a suit-wearing money-grubbing big-time producer with a corny technological winery who distorted the perception of an appellation. But I won't contest charges that I should be punishing myself instead of him.
As for my old syrah paradigm, Eric usefully scolded me on two occasions in 2010:
From me:
2007 Pierre Gonon Saint-Joseph 13.0%
According to the Chambers Street write-up, Gonon is included by John Livingstone-Learmonth, "the foremost writer on the Northern Rhone," in his STGT group - Soil to Glass Transfer, "along with Clape, Chave, Balthazar, Barge and a few others." Uncorked ninety minutes before dinner, the bottleneck was so mute that it immediately joined the STDG group - Soil to Decanter Transfer. At show time the genie was still fast asleep, but into the glass it went, venting its annoyance in the form of tar and rubber exhalations, shouting down the timid supporting cast of cherry and cloves. Luckily the mouth brought compensatory pleasures: fine acidity, good weight, and good acid/sweet balance. The tannins, however, are a bit too light. Where's the grip? Where are your gonads, Gonon? With cheese, a strange chemical note appears, like naphtalene or Baygon, but disappears after ten minutes, right before this was about to join the Soil to Sink Transfer group. Not one to harbor a grudge, I let Baygons be bygones and enjoy the rest of the bottle because it begins to hit it stride, bringing more cherry fruit to the fore and a late note of leafy eucalyptus. All in all, a curious experience, showing how past virtues - lack of wood or supermaturity - are no guarantee of future performance. Unless, of course, the future comes later.
Oswaldo Costa at 02-03-10 5:17am [edit]
From Eric:
Really, no one can think of waiting a little more than 2 weeks before drinking an old school northern rhone syrah?
A lot of 85s were not very tannic, extracted, high alcohol wines. Juge, gentaz or verset were in fact very delicate wines from the begining. They drank ok during the few monthes following the bottling, and then began to show that weird phase very typical of whole cluster syrahs. But for the past 15 years they have been a real joy to drink, and therefore I drank a lot.
Believe it or not, "Natural" syrah boys don't produce old school syrahs.
Their style is in fact very recent and modern according to my tasting history of Northern rhone wines.
I don't think it is a very good idea to consider the wines from gonon as a carbonic fruit salad. BTW we had a 1995 with David L. with Jean Gonon at their place a few days ago. I bet it tasted mutted 12 years ago, and that a lot of early stage syrah drinkers had to go for an Overnoy at that time. But today, no need to go for Jura. This one was plenty satisfying...
From me:
A Côte Rôtie in St. Joseph's Clothing
2004 Patrick Jasmin Côte Rôtie 12.5%
Blackberry, a bit of funk, and a hint of oak vanilla. Good acidity and balance, very enjoyable in an unpretentious vein. My only gripe has to do with my expectations more than the wine. Côte Rôtie has an associated gravitas that this doesn't deliver, being closer to fresh and light, perhaps more like a St. Joseph. Here, I would want more extraction, more weight, I don't know, more balls. Where's the beefiness?
From Eric:
I hope I am not being rude, but why do you want your northern rhone wines to have a chateauneuf structure?
Northern rhone is a cool area (more like beaujolais, than mediteranean like southern rhone in terms of climate) and wines tend to be on the light side unless one uses all the modern winemaking tricks in order to get extracted wines.
Beefiness for Côte Rotie? But traditionnal Cote Rotie is all about minerality violet and iodine. Beefiness is typical of modern syrah or shiraz. Ask Gentaz, Verset, Juge or Chol about beefiness!!! You won't be disappointed!
IMHO, I am not sure you are looking in the good direction if you want extraction power and beefiness in your northern rhone. You may have much better chances in southern climates.
Amicalement
Eric
posted by Brézème 08-02-10 9:10am
