Thierry Allemand

[Chris Kissack]

Thierry Allemand did not come from a family with a history of winemaking, and was not fortunate enough to be the recipient of a family estate of vines as is the case with many other great French domaines. Allemand grew up in Cornas, surrounding by ancient vines, because his father, a factory worker, had settled there. Fascinated by the vineyards that were all around him, he developed a passion for the local wine that may have exceeded that of many of the vignerons! He started off as a cellar-rat at Domaine Robert Michel, and worked there for over a decade, gaining a valuable understanding of the wine. Concurrently, in his spare time, he was cleaning up an abandoned vineyard which he had purchased in 1981.

Allemand's first vintage was in 1982, with a miniscule production of about 64 cases! The quantities have increased since then, which is fortunate as so has worldwide demand for these wines. A typical annual production is now ten times this amount. Although Allemand began by producing a single cuvée, in 1990 and in most vintages since he has produced two cuvées. Firstly there is Les Chaillots, sourced from the limestone slopes of Chaillot to the northwest of Cornas and from La Côte, a granitic slope just to the west. The vines here are generally less than 30 years of age. The cuvée Reynard is sourced from the slopes of the same name to the west of the village, where some of the best sites are to be found. This is a very well established site, including some old vines of 80 years of age purchased from brothers Louis and Noel Verset. Yields at both sites are low, typically between 20 and 30 hl/ha. After fermentation both wines are stored in cask and inox (more wood for Reynard) for about a year before racking by gravity, a light fining if required, and bottling. The wines are not filtered.

A more recent addition to his portfolio is a plot of old vines in Reynard, purchased from Noel Verset. He also has a plot of vines in St Joseph, which goes to the local co-operative. This is a shame, I feel - St Joseph is the sort of appellation that needs a star winemaker to give the locals the impetus they need to improve the quality of their wines.

The following wines were tasted in March 2004.

Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 1994: Quite a dense colour, although a tawny-tinged maturing red. A lovely, expressive nose, with dense floral fruit. Good structure on the palate, tannic and somewhat backward. Creosote and coffee influenced fruit on a sweet, lifted palate. Very pure and a classic example. Very good, potentially excellent.

Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 1995: This is obviously more dense and youthful. It has an open, expressive nose, with some great fruit. Dense, tannic and structured on the palate, with good fruit and acidity. Nevertheless it's a little less finely balanced and fulsome than the preceding wine, although it's still a lovely wine. Very good, excellent potential.

Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard 1996: This is dark, glossy, youthful, with just some paleness at the rim. A great nose, both dense and rich with fruit, and et perfume and elegant at the same time. The palate is full, structured, tannic yet balanced with good fruit and acidity. This is set up nicely for future development. Keep for fie years at least. Very good, excellent potential.

Thierry Allemand Cornas Les Chaillots 1996: Another dark, glossy and youthful wine. An interesting nose, with a bit of sewage at first, although this slightly unpleasant aroma blows off to leave a more acceptable although stinky nose of farmyards. Not really horsey/mousey so I'm not convinced this is Brett. The palate is massive - big, full and tannic. Full and rounded texture but not at all soft or forthcoming - fairly brutal in fact. Needs five years at least. Good, excellent potential.

Thierry Allemand Cornas Les Chaillots 1997: This has a dense, earthy nose suggesting a little maturity. The palate is rich and creamy, but very savoury. Mature, earthy fruit flavours with a sweet edge. Not too much tannin but plenty of acidity. Lots of potential here, but should drink a little sooner than some of the other vintages. Very good, potential for improvement.

Chris Kissack

[Brad Ballinger]

Chris,

I had the wonderful experience of tasting the 2000 Thierry Allemand Cornas Sans Soufree about a month ago. Following suit, the color was almos black as the night. It was, of course, far too young and seemed almost to have been just drawn from the barrel. It was a mouthful of spicy black fruit enshrouded in mineral. Really a stunning wine.

[Chris Kissack]

Brad

The most recent vintage I have tasted is the 2001, both of which were very good wines for what is, I think, not one of the northern Rhones greatest vintages. I haven't tasted anything from the 2000 vintage. They are, as you describe, impressive young as well as more mature.

BWs

Chris Kissack

[Fat Guy]

Thierry Allemand did not come from a family with a history of winemaking, and was not fortunate enough to be the recipient of a family estate of vines as is the case with many other great French domaines.

Your comment caused me to consider, for the first time, how significant the issue of inheritance must be in the wine world, especially in France where most every inch of acceptable land is spoken for.

[mdibiaso]

Inheritence is also a problem for family wineries in France and some other European countries. The reason is the, let us call them, cumbersome laws and taxes surrounding inheritence. If you have an estate with a very high value and have to pay high taxes to inherit where do you get that cash. Well you have to sell some land, and what land can bring in the cash. You best vineyards of course. But if you sell those you cannot produce your best wines anymone. Catch the drift. And if there are a lot of siblings trying to get them to agree on who runs the company is not always easy. Or some may want to cash out well others want to keep the business running (to cash out you need to sell assets, what assets can be sold, the good vineyards...). So it is not always a free ticket to the good life to be an hier of a winery owner in Europe.

[Chris Kissack]

Many families get around the problem of inheritance tax by forming a company to cover the vineyard and winery business. Family members act as director, head of vineyard management, head of production and distribution, and so on. When a family member dies there is a need to shuffle around responsibility, but no need to go through the expensive job of sorting out inheritance. This would also avoid the effect of inheritance law in France, which awards equal portions of the family'e estate to all offspring, which leads to ever-increasing parcellation of property such as in Burgundy, where even individual vineyards have numerous owners. Clos Vougeot has about 80 owners, some owning just a few rows of vines.

BWs

Chris Kissack