WTN: An Evening of Southern Rhones

[Brad Ballinger]

Last night, there was an offline dinner/tasting with about 20-25 people at a neighborhood restaurant in south Minneapolis that didn’t quite know what they were in for when they agreed to let us invade the place with our bottles of Southern Rhone wines. Many of us ordered a first course and an entrée. For nearly half, it was three hours from when they sat down to when their entrée arrived. I had to leave without having dessert since I had to conduct an all-day training session the following day.

This particular crowd was, as I call them, the boys from eBob. It’s a board to which I don’t post, but I’ll go over there and lurk on occasion. Anyway, they’re kind enough to include me on the invitation list.

The notes that follow are the wines I tasted in the order I tasted them. There was only one bottle of each label, and that doesn’t make for much of a pour when there are 20-25 people around. There were many wines I did not get to try, but them’s the breaks.

Whites

1999 M. Chapoutier “La Bernardine” Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. Corked. We’re off to a good start.

1999 Arrowood Viognier. I didn’t get a good enough look at the label to tell if this was the Sonoma County bottling or the Saralee’s Vineyard, Russian River bottling. It had a ripe peach and melon nose with vanilla. Texturally, it seemed on the flabby side. A bit high in alcohol for my palate. Slightly nutty. Slightly oaky.

2001 Pierre Gaillard St. Jospeh Blanc. I’m pretty sure this was the “normal” bottling and not Les Pierres or Clos du Cuminaille. There was a clear and distinct mineral component to the nose, with some sulfur. In the mouth, there was a brightness of citrus and melon, bright acidity, and a solid mineral core. Quite nice.

2001 Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. A bit closed on the nose, but there were elements of hazelnut, citrus, minerals, and a resiny character. Moderate acidity, good balance of fruit and mineral.

1994 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc. Quite oily and resiny in character. Seems a bit more mature than it should be, but not terribly so. Additional aromas of yellow stone fruits and something like caramelized pineapple. Elegant viscosity in the mouth with a very nice nutty/fruity component.

Reds

1995 Chateau Cabrieres Chateauneuf-du-Pape “Prestige.” The label also contained the wording “red dessert wine,” most likely because the alcohol level was 15% and it might be a labeling law type of thing. The nose initially showed a burst of ripe ripe ripe fruit with freshly turned wet black earth and olives. But it dropped the fruit quickly – on the nose and on the palate, turning diluted and alcoholic. Dessert wine indeed. Yeah, right.

1999 Domaine du Grapillon d’Or Gigondas. Timber! This is a wine where the oak unmistakably bars the door to the good stuff. I can tell the good briary fruit, pepper, and olives are in there, but they’re kept under lock and key by too much vanilla on the nose and too much wood in the mouth.

1999 Domaine Les Pallieres Gigondas. A leaping-from-the-glass grenache nose. Juicy red and purple fruit wrapped in some herbs and spice. Nicely balanced, with a good acidity level.

1998 Gourt de Moutens Rasteau. This showed a tale of two wines. On the nose, this showed very attractive fruit, earth, spice, and some olive. On the palate, however, is was too soft, more than a little wooden, more than a little alcoholic, and absent of all the character it promised with its aromas.

2000 Cuvée du Vatican Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Showing lots of grenache fruit on the nose and in the mouth. A bit warm in terms of air temperature compared to the other wines. It was okay, but nothing remarkable.

2000 E. Guigal Chateauneuf-du-Pape. A pleasant enough nose characteristic of Guigal Southern Rhone wines – lots of black pepper. But a wine that seemed to be made to not offend (and also not make much of a statement). Turned okay toward the finish.

1992 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Not a great year for either part of the Rhone, but this wine overcame its handicap. A little cloudy. The nose smelled like my boots after walking through the sheep shit in the Cotswolds (all together now – but in a good way). In fact, you could smell it coming down the table. Overall, it’s a bit light, which is to be expected, but it is nicely balanced. I think it would pair well with some strong hard cheese. A pleasant surprise.

1995 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cuvée Reservée. Great spice profile. Incredible balance. Tannins still holding a firm enough grip. Nice mineral base. The fruit in nicely woven all throughout. It’s still on the way up.

1998 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cuvée Reservée. I was in the minority on this wine. I liked the roasted meat and smoky nuances, and the somewhat chewy texture. It showed good balance. But, IMO, this wine was by no means the behemoth some were making it out to be, and I’m not convinced that it’s going to be a long-term ager. The acid and tannins are much softer than the 95.

1988 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape. This wine is the poster child for balance and harmony. I believe it has peaked. It shows some of the barnyard of the 92, but it’s kept in check with equally present elements of black fruit, black olive, smoke, and spice. It goes down sooooo easy. The tannins are resolved, and the structure is keenly intact.

Dessert

I was packing up when my dining companions were ordering dessert. I had resigned myself to forgoing the stickies, but I was able to suck down a couple sips before I left.

1998 R. Mure Gewurztraminer Clos Saint Landelin Vendange Tardive, Vorbourg Grand Cru. Seductive floral and apricot nose. Faint spice. Some orange peel oil. Not as sweet on the palate as one might expect. More suited for cheese or even savory cuisine. This is the type of wine I like with foie gras moreso than the thicker stickies.

2000 Domaine du Mas Amiel Maury. For those not familiar with Maury, it’s a fortified wine made from grenache, quite similar to Banyuls, which is nearby. It had a slightly chocolatey character, but was not cloyingly sweet. Nice balanced. I’d also like to have this wine with cheese over dessert.

[geo t.]

Now this is my kind of tasting, Brad! Wish I could have been there. Tried the '95 Pegau early this hockey season, and found it to be seriously in need of more cellar time. Haven't had that '98 in a while, since 'o1 in fact. Then, I thought it was a solid 10-year plus wine, and in need of that time to soften up some sizable tannins. Just had that '99 Pallieres again about a month ago, and liked it quite well.

Would have loved to have tasted those Beaucastels.

Cheers,

geo

[Andre]

toward the finish.

1992 Chateau Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The nose smelled like my boots after walking through the sheep shit in the Cotswolds (all together now – but in a good way). In fact, you could smell it coming down the table. Overall, it’s a bit light, which is to be expected, but it is nicely balanced. I think it would pair well with some strong hard cheese. A pleasant surprise.

Great post and funny too

Thanks for sharing.

[Craig Camp]

...a little brett there Brad?

[Brad Ballinger]

...a little brett there Brad?

A little bretty, yes. But not flawed. Just because a wine smells poopy doesn't mean it's afflicted with brett. There was no adverse brett character in the mouth.

Beaucastel is been a point of controversy with respect to brett -- is there any or isn't there. But a very general opinion is that while there may be a little bit that somemay detect, it doesn't affect the integrity of the overall wine. The 1991 vintage of this wines was flawed. By 1992 it was apparent that although not completely rid of brett, it was no longer flawing the wines.

[primowino]

1998 R. Mure Gewurztraminer Clos Saint Landelin Vendange Tardive, Vorbourg Grand Cru. Seductive floral and apricot nose. Faint spice. Some orange peel oil. Not as sweet on the palate as one might expect. More suited for cheese or even savory cuisine. This is the type of wine I like with foie gras moreso than the thicker stickies.

2000 Domaine du Mas Amiel Maury. For those not familiar with Maury, it’s a fortified wine made from grenache, quite similar to Banyuls, which is nearby. It had a slightly chocolatey character, but was not cloyingly sweet. Nice balanced. I’d also like to have this wine with cheese over dessert.

I have also found this surprising lightness in the three (I think) VT gewurztraminer's I have drunk. Not as ethereal as my beloved moelleux vouvrays but getting there.

On the Maury, I agree with you about not necessarily pairing it with chocolate. I shared a bottle of this in a restaurant recently and most people were having chocolate based desserts and the wine is just too light.

It was very pleasant when I tried some before digging into the desserts but I think the chocolate thing is just people's desperation to find wines to drink with their chocolate. My recommendation would be don't bother. If you want a nice dessert wine, drink it and then eat your chocolate pud - not the other way around.

Thanks for the notes. the sheep shit on my boots is usually from the Lake District but I think it smells the same.

[wtbell]

Question for you Rhone experts:

You mentioned the Rasteau area above -- I recently tried a Vin De Pays (Domaine du Trapadis 2002) from that region. It was inexpensive and tasted pretty good so I did some research into the producer and other wines from the area.

Domain du Trapadis is a small operation that grows a wide variety of grapes that it blends in its various cuvees. It occasionally, I understand, produces a Vin De Pays -- the most recent was 2000 which was 100% Grenache.

Their cuvees are usually a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cirsault, and Mourverde grapes.

If I'm not mistaken, 2002 was a rough year for the region. Many lost their entire production. Domain du Trapadis apparently did not release one of the branded cuvees that year -- only this Vin Du Pays --- which, interestingly, this release is a mixture of all the grapes listed above.

Would it be safe to assume that this VDP would be a cut above the norm, but probably less than the cuvee? Since I'm only starting on my journey to learn and enjoy wines, I have no way of comparing this Rhone to the ones mentioned above; could this be a great value?

[KatieLoeb]

I always thought brett smells/tastes like Band-Aids. I thought "barnyard" was it's own thing. Are these assumptions not correct?

edited for embarrassingly heinous grammar

[Rieslingfan]

I will have to dissent on the '98 Pegau. Based on my last tasting in June (and several before that) it is still shut down hard. I've found the '98 (and '00) Pegaus showing nothing right now.

In another 3 years or so the '98 is going to be glorious.

[Brad Ballinger]

Question for you Rhone experts:

You mentioned the Rasteau area above -- I recently tried a Vin De Pays (Domaine du Trapadis 2002) from that region. It was inexpensive and tasted pretty good so I did some research into the producer and other wines from the area.

Domain du Trapadis is a small operation that grows a wide variety of grapes that it blends in its various cuvees. It occasionally, I understand, produces a Vin De Pays -- the most recent was 2000 which was 100% Grenache.

Their cuvees are usually a blend of Grenache, Carignan, Syrah, Cirsault, and Mourverde grapes.

If I'm not mistaken, 2002 was a rough year for the region. Many lost their entire production. Domain du Trapadis apparently did not release one of the branded cuvees that year -- only this Vin Du Pays --- which, interestingly, this release is a mixture of all the grapes listed above.

Would it be safe to assume that this VDP would be a cut above the norm, but probably less than the cuvee? Since I'm only starting on my journey to learn and enjoy wines, I have no way of comparing this Rhone to the ones mentioned above; could this be a great value?

My guess is that the 2002 wine is the same wine as this producers Rasteau, but it has been declassified as a Vin de Pays. Many producers in the area did this sort of thing. There is a perception and expectation of quality based on how the wines are labeled, and certain laws governing how they can be labeled.

This producer was not doubt following the written and unwritten laws.

[Brad Ballinger]

I always thought brett smells/tastes like Band-Aids. I thought "barnyard" was it's own thing. Are these assumptions not correct?

edited for embarrassingly heinous grammar

Katie,

I didn't think the 1992 Beaucastel was very bretty. I think brett manifests itself in a number of ways. Barnyard may be one, but I'm more with you on the band-aid component. And for me the wines taste metallic.