2003 "Tour de Rhône": Cornas, St-Joseph, Rasteau and CDP

I love experimenting with wine, rigorously experimenting with wine. Which leads me to tonight's "Tour de Rhone", a blinded comparison of some top wines from this diverse region - same vintage, four different appellations, three different winemakers, and all at broadly similar price points.

The northern Rhone red wines (Hermitage, Cote-Rotie, Crozes-Hermitage, Cornas, St-Joseph) are typically 100% Syrah, and that was the case with tonight's two wines. With sky-high prices for Cote-Rotie and Hermitage I settled for a Cornas and a St-Joseph:

The 2003 Tardieu-Laurent St-Joseph (100% Syrah) was the crowd (but not my) favourite, exuding spicy tea, nuts and new oak on the nose, violets and blackberries as well. Medium-bodied and very dry with crisp fruit (easily the least fruit-forward) and woodsy tannins, I found it a bit "simple" vs. the Cornas and Rasteau and a bit heavy on the oak. 
cork. 13% alcohol
Score: 17.5/20
Price: C$47.25 (SAQ)

Also from the north, the 2003 Delas Freres Cornas Chante-Perdrix (100% Syrah) was a tremendously interesting wine, constantly changing and showing off fresh notes and layers - cherry coke, wildflowers, wet stones, damp forest undergrowth, leather, cloves, caramel and liquorice on the nose - very cool. Liquorice, crisp cherries, wet wood and a minerally palate, really elegant with a very long finish. Probably my favourite (and the most expensive...), put it away for five more years if you can wait.
cork. 13% alcohol
Score: 18/20
Price: C$49 (SAQ)

Southern reds are typically blends of grenache, syrah and mourvedre, and that was the case with tonight's Chateauneuf du Pape and a village wine from Rasteau:

The 2003 Tardieu-Laurent Rasteau Côtes du Rhône Villages was anything but a humble village wine. An attractive nose of white pepper, plums, grenadine, white flowers, ferns, vanilla, and coffee. Beautiful on the palate - crisp acidity, dense velvety tannins, gravelly cherry fruit, beautifully textured with great length. A fantastic 'village' wine - maybe it was the 80 year old vines? This is a serious wine (blinded, I thought it was the Cornas).
cork. 14.5% alcohol
Score: 18/20
Price: C$42.75 (SAQ)

Everyone's least favourite, the 2003 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf du Pape, was all cooked fruit - a cherry/rhubarb pie with cream on top - some floral notes. Decent on the palate, but hard to get over the hot raisiny fruit. Especially disappointing given that it is currently one of my Top 50 cellar picks...A good drink on another night, but not in the presence of these other greats. Drink now.
cork. 14.5% alcohol
Score: 16/20
Price: C$35.25 (SAQ)

Hats off to Tardieu-Laurent for producing elegant, well-structured wines at both ends of the Rhone Valley, and while pricey I think they were great values given the quality inside the bottle. All wines paired very well with marinated lamb chops fresh off the grill. 

2001 on the Right Bank - Pomerol and St-Emilion

The big melt is on - the snow (a near record >350cm fell on Montreal this winter) is nearly gone, and the arrival of milder temperatures and the clear path to my barbecue are cause for celebration...steak and Bordeaux!

Tonight's rib steaks were paired with two "right bank" wines for another of Joe's blinded, head-to-head comparisons - a St-Emilion versus a Pomerol from the unheralded 2001 vintage.

On the right bank merlot reigns supreme, and both of these wines were no exception. The wines of Pomerol are known to be soft and lush, while the wines of St-Emilion typically use more cabernet franc, and are known for cedary, herbaceous and mineral notes (1).

The 2001 Chateau Moulin St-Georges (St-Emilion) was peppery, leathery and herbaceous, with nice rose petal and minerally notes on the nose. Awkward at first despite a one hour decant before dinner, it softened up to show good acidity, nice minerality and a velvety texture. More interesting than the La Pointe below, it will need a few more years to sort itself out. 
cork. 13.5% alcohol
est: 70% merlot, 15% cab franc, 15% cab sauv
Score: 17.5/20
Price: C$57 (LCBO)

The 2001 Chateau La Pointe (Pomerol) was exactly how I pictured a Pomerol - elegant, soft, luscious and expansive, with a generous serving of silky tannins. Attractive, but subtle and less complex than the St-Emilion - earthy, truffley, smokey cheese, perfume and dark cocoa powder. A well made, textbook Pomerol, also needs a few more years. 
cork. 13% alcohol
80% merlot, 10% cab franc, 10% cab sauv
Score: 17/20
Price: C$64 (SAQ)

My fellow tasters described the wines as austere - the wines were definitely not fruit forward -evolving over the evening and pairing very well with the grilled meat. After reading some brief notes on characteristics of St- Emilion and Pomerol all tasters easily identified the provenance of the wines.

Personally, I preferred the structured 'edginess' of the St-Emilion, but it is easy to see why people spend vast sums of money on Pomerols - typically more accessible in their youth vs. the wines of the Medoc, I have found them very easy to enjoy.

2001 in the South of France

Here's a neat exploration of terroir comparing two 2001-vintage wines from southern France. The two bottles, a Côtes du Rhône Villages and a Coteaux du Languedoc, both hail from a pretty good vintage, both use similar Syrah-dominated blends, and both had identical alcohol levels.

Jammy dark berry fruit, vanilla, cocoa powder, and wildflowers on the nose of the 2001 Domaine Clavel Copa Santa (Coteaux du Languedoc), it was a pleasure to ponder in the glass. As telegraphed by the nose the palate was too hot and chocolatey, but showing nice velvety tannins and a long finish. A pretty good package, but I seem to be moving in a different direction these days, away from this very modern-styled effort. I forgot I tasted this a year ago, I marked it down today. Syrah, with some Grenache (and occasionally Mourvedre).
cork. 14.5% alcohol
Score: 16.5/20
Price: C$27 (SAQ)

There was a neat slatey/granite aspect to the nose of the 2001 Chateau Signac "Cuvee Terra Amata" (Cotes du Rhone Villages), some lavender notes, leather and liquorice, and musty/earthy blackberries. While the Clavel was hot and bothered, the Signac showed crisp cherry fruit, and was poised, smooth and elegant. Beautifully textured, "a vinous joy". One of my Top 50 Cellar Picks, same score as last year. Syrah and Grenache.
cork. 14.5% alcohol
Score: 17.5/20
Price: C$26 (SAQ)

Both were fruitier, more modern-styled wines, so winemaking was not the key to the differences. And while the Signac's higher % of Grenache could be the explanation, I find Syrah hides the high alcohol levels better than Grenache. That leaves terroir: the sandy-clay soil Signac nominally differed from the clay-pebbles at the Clavel site, but I don't think this explains the smoother, more elegant nature of the Signac, which leads me towards weather and temperature variations to explain the difference - I definitely recall better acidity and structure with the Signac.

Barolo vs. Barbaresco: Looking For Piemontese Terroir

In stark contrast to my Twelve Under $12 series was a towering wine tasting featuring some of the greatest, and priciest, wines of Piemonte. Our wine group went deep into our cellars to deliver the following, a mind blowing list of wines for Nebbiolo fans:

1996 Gaja Barbaresco
1996 Sandrone Cannubi Boschis
1997 Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco Rabajà
1998 Prunotto Barbaresco Bric Turot
1998 Marchesi di Barolo Cannubi
1999 Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne
1999 Pio Cesare Barolo
2000 Paitin Barbaresco Sorì Paitin

Just to set the stage, our group's themes have rotated through the world's wine grapes and regions, but with a good basic command of the world's wines I now want to go deeper, really focusing on technique and terroir. With this in mind I "strongly suggested" that our next tasting dive deeper into a specific region, resulting in this high-end nebbiolo tasting to compare and contrast the wines of Barolo and Barbaresco.

Now, before I go into my review I want to highlight that it was extremely difficult to properly assess the wines - with 14 tasters, 10 decanters, 12 different wines (yes, there are eight above, but like all great athletes we needed to "warm up" for the big event and "cool down" afterwards) and 100 glasses (including water glasses) pressed into service, this was more of a wine party than a structured tasting, the assessment further complicated by one ounce pours of wines that needed hours to develop. In that context I reluctantly publish both my scores and the overall ranking by the group - here are my notes:

My two highest scores were for Cosme's 1996 Sandrone (fifth place) and the 2000 Paitin Barbaresco (seventh), both scoring 19/20. Once again, a Sandrone Cannubi Boschis wowed me with extraordinary depth and complexity - first showing a modern-styled nose of creamy cola notes, then bursting forth with classic cedar, musk, truffle, dark earth and rose. So soft and velvety smooth with dry dusty tannins, reserved fruit and seemingly infinite length. I was nearly alone in my praise for the Paitin Barbaresco - musk, leather, nutmeg, flowers and a late developing nutty smell were the olfactory foundation for a complex and beautifully textured wine, the very long finish hinting of many pleasurable years to come.

My next two highest scores were for Ash's Sandrone Barolo Le Vigne (first) and Chris' Giuseppe Cortese Barbaresco (eighth), both scoring 18.5/20. The Sandrone Le Vigne was very different, with inky vanilla and spicy nutmeg and cloves, but the highlight was a fine, well structured palate with silky tannins and gorgeous mouthfeel - the crowd favourite by a wide margin. The Cortese Barbaresco was another wine loved by Joe but disliked by the rest of the gang - very tarry on the nose, with nice secondary aromas from aging, hints of cumin, truffle, leather, venison, coffee and prunes. Very elegant, wrapping the palate in soft velvet and a never-ending finish...no idea why I was the only one who liked this.

My notes have three wines scoring 17.5/20: Cosme's Gaja Barbaresco (third), Lloyd's Prunotto Barbaresco Bric Turot (second), and my Marchesi di Barolo Cannubi (fourth). My Gaja rating probably stands out given the legend surrounding this estate, but this is the second Gaja Barbaresco that left me kind of flat. More floral on the nose, with musk, pepper, tar and cola notes. Elegant and balanced on the palate, with dry dusty tannins lengthy finish, but a bit thin and "hot". The Prunotto was tarry and flinty, with hints of cola and liquorice, but with less length and complexity vs. the other wines - very smooth and elegant, though. My Marchesi Cannubi was perhaps a touch less polished but more interesting than the two above - meaty prunes, cherry fruit, rose, truffle, leather and an odd industrial note that I couldn't quite place. Edgy, but interesting.

I scored Cam's Pio Cesare Barolo (sixth) last, score: 17/20. Pale cola and vanilla notes, but not much else on the nose. Edgy on the palate, to quote: "modern, simple, easy drinking".

Editorial:

(1) While not quite addressing my personal objective to define more clearly for me the difference between a Barolo and a Barbaresco, it was a fantastic, once-in-a-lifetime (I hope not!) flight of wines that paired perfectly with a great group of tasters and a decadent spread of regional cheeses, sausage and foie gras. A terrific evening - many thanks to Cosme and Rebecca.

(2) The quality level was so high that most tasters protested having to rank order their least- to most-favourite wines. These dissident tasters quickly flagged their best and worst, but were sloppy with their middling rankings. As these wines were all very good wines I am not sure that the ranking (or my scores) is helpful.

(3) I ignored a Barbaresco and Barolo that started us off, as well as the two late arrivals - I will add those details (and a photo) as soon as I get those.

(4) I tasted a 1990 Gaja Barbaresco a few years back and I found the 1996 tonight similar - very polished, but lacking the emotion and complexity I look for at this price point. Given that the Gaja sells at multiples of this extremely pricey flight of wine, I fail to see the excitement. This is not a comment against Gaja per se - I loved the Gaja Bruenello recently (I even named Gaja a deity), loved the Gaja Darmagi, but I just can't get my head around the Barbaresco.

(5) I CAN get my head around Luciano Sandrone, everything, love them all - Dolcetto, Barbera, Nebbiolo, Barolos...

(6) For those who need to know, all the wines were sealed with cork and cost 6-15 times that of my $12 cheapos...

Next up, we go back to Burgundy...

Cheers!

Perigee vs. Apogee - Washington State Terroir

A few weeks back the Walla Walla Woman introduced me to the world of wine from Washington State in WBW #34. While shopping for that event I discovered an interesting exercise in Washington State terroir, namely L'Ecole's Perigee and Apogee. L'Ecole No. 41's top Cuvees, these wines use a very similar blend of grapes, and the local shop had both bottlings from the same vintage, at a nearly identical price. For a science guy, this is was a fabulous idea for a controlled experiment in wine terroir.

2003 L'Ecole No. 41 Apogee (Pepper Ridge Vineyard)
(47% Cab Sauv, 45% Merlot, 5% Malbec, 3% Cab Franc)
2003 L'Ecole No. 41 Perigee (Seven Hills Vineyard)
(56% Cab Sauv, 37% Merlot, 7% Cab Franc)

Separated by only 10 miles in the Walla Walla Valley, these two vineyards use (according to the maker) nearly identical viticultural practices. For more details on the two vineyards, see L'Ecole's website (link above).

Apogee is usually associated with celestial orbits, but in this case the marketing folks were obviously seeking to convey a wine reaching great heights. A deep cherry red, the 2003 L'Ecole No. 41 Apogee was more sharp and peppery on the nose, with the alcohol quite noticeable. Scents of violet, raspberry, mint, toast, and a subtle hint of leather were envelopped in an earthy smell, only later showing some cocoa and vanilla. On the palate it was medium-bodied (lighter bodied than the Perigee) and peppery, with nice raspberry fruit and dry leathery tannins. More Bordeaux-like overall, the wine started a bit harsh and unbalanced, but softened over the evening. This wine had a lengthy finish and clearly needs some more time in the cellar. As a group, we felt this wine tasted like a more "Northern-climate" wine - less fruity, more structured.
13.9% alcohol
Score: 17.5/20
Price: C$62 (SAQ)

Perigee, another celestial term, refers to the point in the moon's orbit where it is closest to the center of the earth, so perhaps the marketing folk wish to convey that this is a wine that is "close to the earth"? Similar in hue to the Apogee, the 2003 L'Ecole No. 41 Perigee was very floral on the nose, with a wilder, more leathery aroma. Nice cherry fruit, it evolved nicley over the evening to show some truffles, cloves, pepper, cocoa, almonds and a very nice vegetal aroma. On the palate this was a full-bodied, muscular wine with firm tannins and nice acidity. More luscious than the Apogee, with an oily texture, dark cherry fruit and a hint of mint. A beautiful, substantial wine that demands more cellar time.
13.9% alcohol
Score: 18/20
Price: C$60 (SAQ)

From a terroir perspective, the Seven Hills Vineyard (Perigee) is supposedly warmer, with older vines, higher elevation, an earlier harvest and very little rain, which is conveyed through the wine in a very complex nose and luscious, ripe fruit. The Pepper Ridge Vineyard (Apogee) gets more rain in a cooler vineyard, which leads to a lighter-bodied more peppery and structured wine. Overall, these wines were an absolute pleasure. Their evolution over the evening, and nice tannins and acidity, hint to a wonderful future for these. I predict a re-match in five years.