2010 Souhaut La Souteronne

R

Robert Dentice

Robert Dentice
I have been digging deep in the cellar and trying many wines that I did not necessarily intend to age. Many wines that are now described as natural. The results have been horrible. I would say most are either over the hill or show zero signs of evolution. Not a big deal to me as I now know to drink most of them young.

Well this is an exception. This has aged more like a Syrah. A real shocker it has a pepper and spice character with a deep mineral vain throughout with dark fruits. A unique wine that is just a joy to drink at age 10.

I did not know that Souhaut studied / worked in Beaujolais with Lapierre and Pacalet (according to the internet).

Side note - purchased this from Garagiste. Are they still in business? Hard to tell from their website.
 
Over the hill is to be expected in a sans soufre with insufficient phenolic structure but zero signs of evolution is very odd.
 
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Over the hill is to be expected in a sans soufre with insufficient phenolic structure but zero signs of evolution is very odd.
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Said another way if the wine is still sound I see no benefits from aging it.
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:
originally posted by Oswaldo Costa:
Over the hill is to be expected in a sans soufre with insufficient phenolic structure but zero signs of evolution is very odd.
Click to expand...

Said another way if the wine is still sound I see no benefits from aging it.
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Like any category of wine, a natural wine won't necessarily benefit from aging, but I don't see, a priori, any reason why a natural wine that remains sound won't benefit from aging. If anything, the lack of sulfur should lead to faster aging, generating sooner whatever gains or losses are in the cards. It's an interesting issue, because so many Rieslings full of SO2 age beautifully given enough time to absorb it, so there's a longevity tradeoff going on that is still poorly understood.
 
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

Side note - purchased this from Garagiste. Are they still in business? Hard to tell from their website.
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Yes, Rimmerman is still at it. There are a few wines he offers which are hard to obtain here in flyover country that can make enduring the rhetoric modestly less excruciating. His "mystery" schtick is as unbearable as ever. Lately, I have found the education I can get from books, Putnam and Todd far more gratifying.
 
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
originally posted by Robert Dentice:

Side note - purchased this from Garagiste. Are they still in business? Hard to tell from their website.
Click to expand...

Yes, Rimmerman is still at it. There are a few wines he offers which are hard to obtain here in flyover country that can make enduring the rhetoric modestly less excruciating. His "mystery" schtick is as unbearable as ever. Lately, I have found the education I can get from books, Putnam and Todd far more gratifying.
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I follow Putnum on IG and it looks like he gets his hands on good stuff.
 
I've also had a much-worse-than-anticipated failure rate in the science-experiment portion of the cellar, and have also had a couple aged Souhauts that were dynamite.
 
Thanks for the mentions.

Westernmkt happens to have some various recent Souhat cuvées available. Only one bottle, Syrah, is is locked down at home though. I like this producer's wines but I can't shake the sense that I'm paying a certain hype tax. If they cost 50-75% of their going rates I could be more enthusiastic.

What I wish we had more of was older bottles from Cascina degli Ulivi, in particular Mounbé (barbera) and Filagnotti (cortese). Those must fall under the "sufficient phenolic structure" rule? But they're bonkers.

Can we list other 0+SO2 candidates for aging?
 
originally posted by Ken Schramm:
originally posted by VLM:

I follow Putnum on IG and it looks like he gets his hands on good stuff.
Click to expand...

Putnam turned me on to this Maggiorina from Piedmont, and it's like drinking Beaujolais in expensive lingerie (the wine, not me, but "in these challenging times," that's an interesting thought). I had to go back and buy more.
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Everything from Le Piane seems to have soul, if not intimate undergarments.
 
Souhaut, like a lot of the early no sulfur syrah producers, switched back to tiny amounts at bottling if needed, as far as I know.
 
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