Rhône 2017

 

Guigal

                                         The tasting table at Guigal. Note the number of bottles

Driving down to the Rhone now. First stop at Ampuis is Guigal. The business was only started in 1946, but Guigal sells more than 6 million bottles per year now. Much of this is the negociant business from the Southern Rhone, but the real treasures are the owned vineyards in the Northern part. Given the large portfolio of wines, you do not know what is on the tasting table, but I was not going to be disappointed.

After a couple of quaffers, I try the 2012 Crozes-Hermitage. This 100% Shiraz is made from owned and bought-in grapes. It is a fruity, but nicely balanced wine (90 points). This is followed by the 2012 special block Vignes de l'Hospice from St. Joseph. This wine has spent three years in new oak, but the fleshy red plum fruit is taking it well. The wine has good depth, with some complex, smoky flavours and fine tannins (93 points). I then tried the 2007 Cote-Rotie, a blend of 96% Shiraz and 4% Viognier. The blackberry and plum flavours are good, the minty notes are a bit irritating and overall, the wine is somewhat astringent (91 points).

Then come two absolute highlights. The 2011 Chateau d'Ampuis comes from seven blocks of the famous blonde and brune vineyards. 7% of Viognier is co-fermented in this wine. The red berry fruit is elegant, the sizeable Viognier component not too noticeable. This is a wine of great finesse, with a soft, alluring finish (96 points). I was lucky to be able to taste one of the famous LaLa wines, the 2011 La Landonne. This wine has spent 42(!) months in new oak, but you would not know it. The wine shows a strong plum aroma on the nose, but on the palate, blackberry and minerality notes dominate. This wine has deep intensity, but is very elegant at the same time, with a very silky mouthfeel: sheer class (97 points).
It is impressive to see that a high volume producer can still pay a lot of detailed attention to his premium wines.

Chapoutier Tasting

One of my most memorable tastings of my 2015 tour de France was the tasting at Chapoutier at Tain- l'Hermitage. A few days ago, I had the opportunity to participate in another exciting Chapoutier tasting.

There are a number of key principles of Marcel Chapoutier. The winery is biodynamic since 1997, and is the largest biodynamic winery in France, and I think the world. Chapoutier does not blend varieties. It is always one (owned) vineyard, one grape variety. This is unusual for the Rhone. There are some wines blended from vineyard blocks near to each other.

The photo shows the line-up.


The three whites are all 100% Marsanne. The 2016 Saint-Peray Les Tanneurs is an entry level wine from a terroir not well known. The wine has a pale golden colour and is light-bodied. This is a vibrant wine with apple flavours and minerality, quite well focussed (89 points). The 2015 Saint-Joseph Les Granilites is a big step up. It has a darker colour, more intensity and body. This wine sees 25% oak. This is quite a ripe, yet elegant wine, with  exotic rhubarb flavours dominating. I loved this wine (94 points). The 2015 Hermitage Chante-Alouette certainly has the pedigree (and the yellow wax). It is a concentrated wine with pineapple, pear and marzipan flavours. There are honey and toasty flavours on the long finish. While impressive, I found the wine a bit chewy and heavy (93 points). 

On to the reds. The 2015 Crozes Hermitage Les Meysonniers is a blend from different plots. The wine is matured for 12 months in concrete tanks and sees no oak. It is of course 100% Shiraz and black fruited. There are some meaty and game flavours as well. The finish is a bit chewy and sharp (88 points). The 2014 Saint-Joseph Les Granilites suffered from the wet vintage and is a bit lean. It has a perfumed aroma, quite feminine. This is an elegant wine. The black and blue berries open up on the back palate (93 points). The 2014 Cornas Les Arenes is  different. This is quite a big and rich wine. Dark berry, meaty and smoky flavours deliver complexity on the palate, but in contrast to other years, the mouthfeel is soft (93 points).

We finish with wines from the famous Hermitage hill. The 2011 Monier de la Sizeranne is a blend of different blocks from the hill. They are from the lower parts of the hill. The flavours of this wine are a mixture of red and black fruits. The wine is feminine, very elegant and finishes with soft tannins and good length (95 points). The star of the evening, as expected, was the 2007 Hermitage Le Pavillion. The wine is matured in oak for 18 months, 25% new. The vines are 65 to 85 years old. It was quite a privilege to drink this wine after 10 years, as only 500-900 bottles are made each year. The wine is still quite energetic, with complex flavours of blackberry, boysenberry, olive, meat, and smoky spices. This is an intense wine you can almost cut with a knife (images of Grange come up). The finish is very long (96 points). 

Vieux Telegraphe


The famous plateau La Crau, Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Daniel Brunier,co-owner, and the wines tasted

A remarkable tasting was my second last in France, at Vieux Telegraphe. At first, Daniel Brunier took me on a tour across the vineyards of La Crau. This plateau, on the east side of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, is covered in large rocks.  The clay soil starts a couple of meters below the surface. As a result, the waterholding capacity is good, but the roots have to go deep. They pick up many nutrients along the way.

The philosophy of the winery is to deliver finesse to the wines. This is more important than fruit. Only old oak is used, and grapes are often not destemmed.

The first wine I tasted was the 2014 Megaphone. This is a new wine from Ventoux. The grapes, 70% Grenache, 30% Shiraz, are quite young. Still, the wine is not overly fruit forward, but quite restrained (90 points). Then came the 2012 Les Pallieres, Les Racines from Gigondas. This 62 acre vineyard sits in the lower part of an amphitheatre. It is 80% Grenache, with 30% stems. The wine is a bit austere, with minerality flavours a key feature, before finishing on firm tannins (90 points). 

The next red was the first from Chateauneuf-du-Pape, the 2012 Telegramme. This 60% Grenache based wine is pretty. It is fresh and elegant, with quite a soft mouthfeel (92 points).  Then it gets more complex with the 2011 Piedlong. This wine is based on 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre. 50% of the grapes are not destemmed. Flavours are sour cherry, and there are salty notes as well. The palate is firm, yet elegant, with quite a unique profile (93 points).

Then we compared two Vieux Telegraphe. The current one is from 2012. It is a GSM blend, with 65% Grenache. The vines are 70 years old on average. 30% of the grapes are not destemmed. This is a wine of intense fruit flavours, yet elegant and with great balance (95 points). The 2001 comes from a comparable vintage. It is still fresh, has again a bit of the saltiness on the palate, with silky tannins and a lift on the finish (96 points).

What I admired about these wines is the common philosophy that was expressed in them. Here was not a series of individual wines, but a thread that cut across them. Beautiful balance, finesse, clearly a great ability to age. I fell in love with this wine style.      



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