One of our Austin wine fanatics hosts a monthly wine salon, during which wine afficionados and folks in the wine and food industry come together and taste through the wines of a particular region with the goal to educate ourselves. This month, we tasted through the greater Rhone region. Food was fantastic all around with home made venison and pork sausages, leg of lamb with a ridiculously tasty almond creme sauce, and a tenderloin prepared sous-vide by none other than JohnGL of the food blog The Alcoholian (www.alcoholian.com). On to the wines.
The Whites
- 2000 Château de Nages Costières-de-Nîmes Cuvée Joseph Torrès - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Costières-de-Nîmes
Not dead yet, but marching steadfast towards its demise. Past its prime and just a lot of stone and mineral. Fruit is thin, acid high. Not fun to drink anymore. - 2001 M. Chapoutier Hermitage Blanc Chante-Alouette - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
I really like this wine. Age has given it some steeliness while retaining the oily texture. Some lemon curd and beeswax on the palate with crushed rocks. Finishes well. Some tasters will prefer this young, but I consider this to have another few years of age-ability on it. - 2000 Château Puech-Haut Coteaux du Languedoc Le Blanc Epicurien - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc
Dreadful. Oxidized in my opinion. Another taster mentioned this must have been heat damaged. Either way undrinkable. Oak seemed overdone, though. - 2006 E. Guigal Condrieu - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
Excellent young Condrieu. All that Viognier makes for a very soft and fruit forward wine in its youth. That being said, the wine has serious backbone, and I can see how it would last many years. Peaches, tropical fruit, and wet stone on the palate. Very nice.
Languedoc and Gigondas
- 2002 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Collioure Clos du Moulin - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Collioure
Weak vintage, and it shows on the thinner than usual midpalate. It does have the typical funk that Dr. Parce's wines often display, and it's definitely very pleasant. Just not really good. - 2002 Domaine du Mas Blanc (Docteur Parcé) Collioure Cosprons Levants - France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Collioure
Again, a pretty weak wine from a weak vintage. But it's definitely good, enjoyable, and fairly priced. Good everyday drinker, but not more. Fiven the Syrah content, it's a bit weak on the palate, but it hold up. - 2000 Domaine les Pallières Gigondas - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
First red of the night I really liked. Pretty typical provencal grilled/roasted herbs, lavender and garrigue with some meat juices. Finishes great and has a bit of time left before going into decline. Rather liked this a lot, although it's not an intellectually inspiring wine by any means.
Beaucastel and Family
- 2005 Tablas Creek Esprit de Beaucastel - USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles
My first Tablas Creek, and somewhat of a revelation. Much better than any other California Rhone Ranger I've ever had. This had a lot going for itself. Good fruit and ripeness, ample acidity, and a nice structure underneath. Could probably fool people into believeing it's a Southern Rhone in blind tastings. Only problem is that the acid seems artificial to me...maybe watered down or acidified? - 2001 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
Not bad at all. Fruit has already faded quite a bit, and I think it's time to drink up. But what a nice win for the money. Very good CdR, but not mini-CdP quality in my opinion. Fruit lacks depth and layers for that to apply. - 2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
One of my top two wines in the tasting. Incredible depth of fruit, balance, elegance, and my favorite truffle notes in Beaucastel from the aging Mourvedre. I could drink this every night. Many years left in the tank to develop.
CdP Big Hitters
- 1998 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Unfortunately, this bottle was ever so slightly corked. Drinkable, but the fruit was stripped of its suppleness, and the finish was dulled. - 2000 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This was more like it. Lovely nose of herbs and smoked meats, blackberry fruit, and a nice frame that should support many more years of graceful ageing. - 2000 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Great bottle. From magnum, the freshness of the wine showed over the Beaucastel from the same vintage. Not necessarily better than the Beaucastel, but different. Laurence's CdPs are often less dark and brooding than those of Beaucastel, which I attribute to the generally lower Mourvedre content. That said, it had the usual Pegau funk/brett, with loads of garrigue and the Kirsch liqueur notes I have always liked in Pegau. Great wine, great bottle, My WOTN by a slim margin over the Beaucastel.
Northern Rhone Syrah
- 1997 M. Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
Good wine. I like Chapoutire's Sizeranne and have had some mind boggling bottles, such as the 1990 and 1989. This wasn't as good as those, but it showed fairly well. Pretty open-knit with olive tapenade notes and some meat juices. Blackberry fruit and good freshness. Bit short on the finish, bur very pleasant. - 2001 Guy Bernard Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
Good vintage, but pedestrian wine. Nothing wrong with it. but hollow on the mid-palate, shorter than expected on the finish, thin on fruit, and lacking the typicity of black olive and bacon fat I'm looking for. Not worth buying and even less worthy of cellaring. Would be a good quaffer if it were to cost $15/bottle.
Syrah/Viognier Blends
- 2001 Jean-Michel Gerin Côte-Rôtie Champin le Seigneur - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie
This one was significantly better than the Bernard. Had the black cured olive and bacon fat aromas and flavors. Smoke and beef blood. Decent depth, and solid finish. Should hold up well for many years and improve. Interestingly, Tanzer scored this one quite a bit lower than the Bernard. Different folks, different strokes, I guess. - 2003 Kangarilla Road Shiraz - Viognier - Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Not my cup of tea. Too blowsy, but most distractingly, I tasted tons of dried apricot. Some called it apricot jam, but I think it's even sweeter and more cloying than jam. Although the rest of the wine has appeal, and I can see how this could make an interesting pairing with spicy food or thick and juicy BBQ ribs, this just isn't for me.
The Dessert Wines
- 2006 Domaine des Bernardins Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise
Weird wine. Had a slightly bitter edge to it, and I thought it didn't go well with the dessert. Not sweet enough to be a dessert wine by my definition, and too sweet to consume as a table wine with other foods than dessert. Just in that exact spot where I thought it's difficult to pair. Not my favorite. - 2004 Domaine Yves Cuilleron Condrieu Ayguets - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Condrieu
I liked this a lot. Sweet and round with nice peach and apricot, sufficient acidity. Was a great match to the tangerine dessert. Definitely the better of the two dessert wines IMO.
At the end of the night, I was apparently feeling too confident, and I bragged about my Creme Brulee. Turns out JohnGL spent a year perfecting his recipe, and let's just say it's way more elaborate than mine. Tonight I'll be making his recipe to see how much better it is than mine (if it isn't, I'll be shocked). I'll report on this event at some other point in time.
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