Wines of the Northern Rhone
19 Oct 2009
Wine and Dine Society
This was another tasting with a great wine list organised by the wine and dine society.
1. Condrieu 1995 Domaine Guigal
Very strong apricot nose. Also floral and nutty aromas. Full bodied, this is a food wine. Med-low acid, good length and plenty of complexity and minerality on the palate. Not showing its age. Very good.
2. Crozes Hermitage 1982, Domaine Thalabert, Paul Jaboulet Aine
Very leathery and gamey. Very ripe red berries, surprisingly fruity for its age. Med body, high acid, med-high tannin. Fruity palate, chocolate finish. Very good, particularly since this was not a great year.
3. Crozes Hermitage 1983, Paul Jaboulet
Ripe fruit, some leathery notes. Roasted and sweet spice nose. Med body, high acid and med-high tannin. Fruity palate but with rustic tones also. Long but finish has grippy tannins. The wine will probably lose fruit before it loses the tannin. Very good now though.
4. 1983 Hermitage Domaine Pascal
Quite deep colour for the age. Black fruit, leather, cinnamon and something floral. Green pepper. All in all a pretty complex nose. Full bodied, especially considering the age. Good balance between tannin and acid. Long and complex palate. Excellent.
5. 1986 Cote Rotie, Les Jumelles, Domaine Paul Jaboulet
Slightly sweet smell. Ripe fruit but less complexity on the nose than the previous wine. Smoky, herbal nose. Medium body, too acidic - not enough fruit to balance it. Past its best. Good, but would have been better previously.
6. 1988 Cote Rotie, La Garde, Cuvee Reserve, Domaine A Devrieux Thaize
Sweet nose, cinnamon, leather, meat, herbs and red berries. Full bodied with ripe fruit on the palate. Tastes a lot younger than it smells. High acid, med-high tannin. This is a food wine but is also awesome on its own. It still tastes young. This is fabulous!
7. 1988 Hermitage La Chapelle, Domaine Paul Jaboulet
Very deep colour, looks as though it should be a 1998 rather than an 88. Licquorice on the nose. Also smells of champagne cellar. Grapey. Full bodied, high alcohol. Reminiscent of a young port. This is different to the other wines. I think that it still needs time(!) to come round. It may well turn out to be the highest quality wine here, but the previous wine is more enjoyable now.
8. Condrieux Doux, Domaine Georges Vernay
This is a very unusual wine - sweet condrieu. Pale gold colour. Nose is a little like a liqueur muscat. These are late-picked grapes with no noticeable botrytis character. It must just have been really hot that year with a long summer. The yeast dies at a lower alcohol level since natural viognier yeasts are weaker. This left approximately 3 degrees of potential alcohol as residual sugar. This is not sweet enough for a dessert. Unique, interesting and good!
Sunday, 8 November 2009
Old World vs New World Tasting
This was the September tasting for Bacchus Vintage, organised by Graham Tanner.
Sadly, I appear to have lost my notes. I remember the wine of the night was an Argentinian Malbec. I'll see if anyone else has any notes for that evening and will upload them if they do.
Sadly, I appear to have lost my notes. I remember the wine of the night was an Argentinian Malbec. I'll see if anyone else has any notes for that evening and will upload them if they do.
Mumm Champagne, Reims
On the weekend we went into Reims itself. The area where we were staying was not the most beautiful area of town and our opinion of the city was probably not helped by the chaos which was being caused by the building of a new tram system. Also, our car was crashed into by a (presumably drunk) driver from Marseille who then drove off. Luckily, our car was parked outside a cafe where some (also drunk) bored locals rushed outside and wrote down his licence place number. When we arrived a few hours later they were over the moon at their detective work. We then had to go to the police station and fill out forms in triplicate before we were able to go do any Champagne visits.
Luckily, we had a much less punishing schedule of visits in Reims, with only Mumm organised. So this basically just stopped us exploring as much of the town as we would otherwise have done.
The atmosphere at Mumm was very different than at the small producers we had been visiting all week. Here you are definitely on the corporate visit conveyor belt. It's a smooth, well-oiled tourist machine. However, the tour is very well done and the cellars are huge and impressive.
The tour covers the whole champagne method and would be an excellent way for someone who was not sure of all the details to start their Champagne holiday. And if you did this before the small producers then it wouldn't feel so impersonal.
The Wines
1. Mumm de Cramant
Herbaceous, grassy nose. Refined and elegant. Light bodied, soft and fine mousse. Well balanced. Good acid, subtle. Long apple flavoured finish. One of the best blanc de blancs of the holiday (although we were in the PN area).
2. Grand Cru Brut
Quite full bodied. Truffles and mushrooms. Biscuit and lemon. Good length. However, at the very end the finish is a little metallic. This would be very good were it not for that.
3. Mumm Rose
Odd. This had an unpleasant yoghurt sourness to it. The fruit felt fake, almost like sweets. I didn't like this one very much at all.
Price Point
Two out of these three wines were good, one of them very good. However, they were all massively overpriced. It was good to finish our visits on this one because it reminded us how much cheaper the wines from the small producers can be. It's a shame they're not easier to find in the UK.
Luckily, we had a much less punishing schedule of visits in Reims, with only Mumm organised. So this basically just stopped us exploring as much of the town as we would otherwise have done.
The atmosphere at Mumm was very different than at the small producers we had been visiting all week. Here you are definitely on the corporate visit conveyor belt. It's a smooth, well-oiled tourist machine. However, the tour is very well done and the cellars are huge and impressive.
The tour covers the whole champagne method and would be an excellent way for someone who was not sure of all the details to start their Champagne holiday. And if you did this before the small producers then it wouldn't feel so impersonal.
The Wines
1. Mumm de Cramant
Herbaceous, grassy nose. Refined and elegant. Light bodied, soft and fine mousse. Well balanced. Good acid, subtle. Long apple flavoured finish. One of the best blanc de blancs of the holiday (although we were in the PN area).
2. Grand Cru Brut
Quite full bodied. Truffles and mushrooms. Biscuit and lemon. Good length. However, at the very end the finish is a little metallic. This would be very good were it not for that.
3. Mumm Rose
Odd. This had an unpleasant yoghurt sourness to it. The fruit felt fake, almost like sweets. I didn't like this one very much at all.
Price Point
Two out of these three wines were good, one of them very good. However, they were all massively overpriced. It was good to finish our visits on this one because it reminded us how much cheaper the wines from the small producers can be. It's a shame they're not easier to find in the UK.
Champagne Louis de Sacy
Coming from Ployez-Jacquemart to here had me worried that I'd rate the wines less highly than they deserved because I would be comparing them to the excellent wine I'd just had. However, they stood up well.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Nue NV
60%PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Zero dosage. Pale colour. Smells very lemony and biscuity. Crisp, acidic but lacks body and the taste dies very quickly once swallowed. This was another true-to-type zero dosage wine. OK, but would be better with non-zero dosage.
2. Brut NV
67%PN, 30% Chardonnay, 3% PM
Smells of dough, lemon and cheese. Good body and length. Intense lemon on palate. Well balanced. Good.
3. Brut Grand Cru
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Aged for 3 years on lees. Almost a caramel sweetness on the nose. Smooth and soft. A little unbalanced on the finish. Good, but not great.
4. Brut Grand Cru Rose Saignee
90% PN, 10% PM
Crisp, acidic and a little savoury on the finish. Red fruit and peaches and apricots. Good length and well balanced. Very good. The two saignee method roses we had on this trip were excellent.
5. Grand Soir Vintage 2001 Grand Cru
30 EUR
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Interesting bottle shape - almost fluted. Mushrooms, nuts, toast, truffles and earthy notes. Weighty and full bodied. Creamy, rich and smooth. Crisp lemon palate. Quite mineralic. Refreshing and very good.
Champagne Louis de Sacy
Coming from Ployez-Jacquemart to here had me worried that I'd rate the wines less highly than they deserved because I would be comparing them to the excellent wine I'd just had. However, they stood up well.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Nue NV
60%PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Zero dosage. Pale colour. Smells very lemony and biscuity. Crisp, acidic but lacks body and the taste dies very quickly once swallowed. This was another true-to-type zero dosage wine. OK, but would be better with non-zero dosage.
2. Brut NV
67%PN, 30% Chardonnay, 3% PM
Smells of dough, lemon and cheese. Good body and length. Intense lemon on palate. Well balanced. Good.
3. Brut Grand Cru
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Aged for 3 years on lees. Almost a caramel sweetness on the nose. Smooth and soft. A little unbalanced on the finish. Good, but not great.
4. Brut Grand Cru Rose Saignee
90% PN, 10% PM
Crisp, acidic and a little savoury on the finish. Red fruit and peaches and apricots. Good length and well balanced. Very good. The two saignee method roses we had on this trip were excellent.
5. Grand Soir Vintage 2001 Grand Cru
30 EUR
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Interesting bottle shape - almost fluted. Mushrooms, nuts, toast, truffles and earthy notes. Weighty and full bodied. Creamy, rich and smooth. Crisp lemon palate. Quite mineralic. Refreshing and very good.
The Wines
1. Cuvee Nue NV
60%PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Zero dosage. Pale colour. Smells very lemony and biscuity. Crisp, acidic but lacks body and the taste dies very quickly once swallowed. This was another true-to-type zero dosage wine. OK, but would be better with non-zero dosage.
2. Brut NV
67%PN, 30% Chardonnay, 3% PM
Smells of dough, lemon and cheese. Good body and length. Intense lemon on palate. Well balanced. Good.
3. Brut Grand Cru
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Aged for 3 years on lees. Almost a caramel sweetness on the nose. Smooth and soft. A little unbalanced on the finish. Good, but not great.
4. Brut Grand Cru Rose Saignee
90% PN, 10% PM
Crisp, acidic and a little savoury on the finish. Red fruit and peaches and apricots. Good length and well balanced. Very good. The two saignee method roses we had on this trip were excellent.
5. Grand Soir Vintage 2001 Grand Cru
30 EUR
60% PN, 35% Chardonnay, 5% PM
Interesting bottle shape - almost fluted. Mushrooms, nuts, toast, truffles and earthy notes. Weighty and full bodied. Creamy, rich and smooth. Crisp lemon palate. Quite mineralic. Refreshing and very good.
Champagne Ployez-Jacquemart
This was definitely the visit of the holiday. We ended up staying at their guest house on the Thursday night and then coming for a tasting on Friday afternoon. So on Thursday night we did not know what a gold-mine of champagne we were sleeping on top of.
For future reference, the "mini-bar" at the guest house is simply a fridge full of the Ployez-Jacquemart champagnes all sold at cellar-door prices. Tragically, this minibar went untroubled by our group on the Thursday night.
Ployez-Jacquemart are Negociants, buying in at least some of their grapes. However, the production is quite small at around 130k bottles per year. Most of the base wine undergoes MALO with exception of the Special Cuvee (Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville). This special cuvee is aged in oak barrels which have been used 3 times before in Burgundy. The base wine spends 3-months in barrel and then the champagne is aged for 10-years in the cellar. Not undergoing MALO produces champagnes which require more age before drinking well. Dosage is low too at around 3-5 g of sugar per litre of wine.
Since the special cuvee ages for a long time before release, the wines are riddled a few years prior to release and the wines are stored sur-pointe. This minimizes the contact between the dead yeast and the wine allowing the wine to age without the yeast autolysis flavour overwhelming the other flavours in the wine.
Visit
This was a great visit. They have quite extensive cellars and gave a very informative and interesting tour. A combination of the quality of the wine (see below) and the excellent tour mean that I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone.
The Wine
1. Selection Rose
Delicate pink colour. No bitterness (a common complaint of mine about rose). Fine mousse with intense red fruit. Good length with a savoury finish. The red wine spent a year in oak before assemblage. Well balanced. This is the best rose so far. Very good.
2. 2000 Vintage
No oak. Very refined but still expressive and exuberant. Lemon, creamy truffle nose. Something almost cheesy. Full bodied on the palate. Intense lemon curd and biscuit flavour. Great length. Best wine so far.
3. Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville 1998
The 2000 vintage rapidly lost the crown of best wine so far to this, the very next wine tasted. This was a truly impressive Champagne. This has such intensity of flavour and length that after just one sip it is possible to clearly taste it for a long time afterwards.
The aromas start off being quite earthy and become more lemony with time in the glass. Full bodied and very intense flavour on the palate. Great balance. The oak influence is subtle and well integrated. This would be an excellent champagne to pair with food. It's so powerful that it is what I imagine a great white burgundy would taste like were it a sparkling wine. The base wine did not undergo MALO but the wine still tastes quite creamy.
I really, really liked this one. Fantastic.
For future reference, the "mini-bar" at the guest house is simply a fridge full of the Ployez-Jacquemart champagnes all sold at cellar-door prices. Tragically, this minibar went untroubled by our group on the Thursday night.
Ployez-Jacquemart are Negociants, buying in at least some of their grapes. However, the production is quite small at around 130k bottles per year. Most of the base wine undergoes MALO with exception of the Special Cuvee (Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville). This special cuvee is aged in oak barrels which have been used 3 times before in Burgundy. The base wine spends 3-months in barrel and then the champagne is aged for 10-years in the cellar. Not undergoing MALO produces champagnes which require more age before drinking well. Dosage is low too at around 3-5 g of sugar per litre of wine.
Since the special cuvee ages for a long time before release, the wines are riddled a few years prior to release and the wines are stored sur-pointe. This minimizes the contact between the dead yeast and the wine allowing the wine to age without the yeast autolysis flavour overwhelming the other flavours in the wine.
Visit
This was a great visit. They have quite extensive cellars and gave a very informative and interesting tour. A combination of the quality of the wine (see below) and the excellent tour mean that I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone.
The Wine
1. Selection Rose
Delicate pink colour. No bitterness (a common complaint of mine about rose). Fine mousse with intense red fruit. Good length with a savoury finish. The red wine spent a year in oak before assemblage. Well balanced. This is the best rose so far. Very good.
2. 2000 Vintage
No oak. Very refined but still expressive and exuberant. Lemon, creamy truffle nose. Something almost cheesy. Full bodied on the palate. Intense lemon curd and biscuit flavour. Great length. Best wine so far.
3. Cuvee Liesse d'Harbonville 1998
The 2000 vintage rapidly lost the crown of best wine so far to this, the very next wine tasted. This was a truly impressive Champagne. This has such intensity of flavour and length that after just one sip it is possible to clearly taste it for a long time afterwards.
The aromas start off being quite earthy and become more lemony with time in the glass. Full bodied and very intense flavour on the palate. Great balance. The oak influence is subtle and well integrated. This would be an excellent champagne to pair with food. It's so powerful that it is what I imagine a great white burgundy would taste like were it a sparkling wine. The base wine did not undergo MALO but the wine still tastes quite creamy.
I really, really liked this one. Fantastic.
Champagne Arnould
Rather entertainingly, their website says:
"The whole family await you at the farm to share a moment of conviviality"
which is not how we found it at all. The meeting we got was decidedly frosty. However, once they realised that we were taking things seriously and not just a bunch of drunk tourists then they were much more friendly.
1. Extra Brut
100% PN, zero dosage.
This confirmed my existing prejudice about zero dosage champagnes. This was OK, but it just lacked a little body. The Brut Tradition (number 3) was so much better to my taste.
Very tart and dry. The overall impression is that the wine is missing something - particularly on the finish.
2. Carte d'Or
50% PN, 50% Chardonnay from old vines
Very pale. Dry, but not zero dosage. Crisp lemon acid. Some peach, some biscuit and plenty of lime on the finish. Sort of reminiscent of a key lime pie. Good.
3.Brut Tradition NV
100% PN
Strong biscuity aroma. Smooth, fine mousse. Silky mouthfeel. Quite full bodied. Well balanced. Would work well with food. This one is very good.
"The whole family await you at the farm to share a moment of conviviality"
which is not how we found it at all. The meeting we got was decidedly frosty. However, once they realised that we were taking things seriously and not just a bunch of drunk tourists then they were much more friendly.
1. Extra Brut
100% PN, zero dosage.
This confirmed my existing prejudice about zero dosage champagnes. This was OK, but it just lacked a little body. The Brut Tradition (number 3) was so much better to my taste.
Very tart and dry. The overall impression is that the wine is missing something - particularly on the finish.
2. Carte d'Or
50% PN, 50% Chardonnay from old vines
Very pale. Dry, but not zero dosage. Crisp lemon acid. Some peach, some biscuit and plenty of lime on the finish. Sort of reminiscent of a key lime pie. Good.
3.Brut Tradition NV
100% PN
Strong biscuity aroma. Smooth, fine mousse. Silky mouthfeel. Quite full bodied. Well balanced. Would work well with food. This one is very good.
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