Owning 20+ acres of some of the finest vineyards in Côte-Rôtie, René Rostaing is, by all accounts, among the top tier producers in the northern Rhone.   Considered by his US importer (The Rare Wine Company) as an enlightened traditionalist, René employs roto-fermenters along with a minimal 20% to 30% new wood on his Côte-Rôties.  Destemming depends on the wine with the Cuvée Classique being 100% destemmed while his top cuvee, the Côte-Rôtie La Landonne, seeing only 50% destemming.

In the late 1990s, René and his wife purchased the small estate, Domaine Puech Chaud, near Nîmes. This domaine possesses a cool micro climate along with limestone soils and he produces both a red and white blend from this estate.

The new Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Les Lézardes releases come from several parcels of old vines just outside of Côte-Rôtie.

While tasting through these wines, René’s stated aversion for large scaled, oak driven wines is very apparent and all of his wines rely on balance, nuance and overall harmony as opposed to pure power. They all have a strong, acidic core that, upon first opening, can be slightly unfriendly but these wines flesh out beautifully with air. While certainly enjoyable now, the balance, fruit quality and solid  structure suggests that the top wines have a long life ahead of them.

2005 Rene Rostaing Coteaux du Languedoc Puech Chaud Blanc (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc)
Showing pretty floral, tropical and peach aromatics,the 2005 Rene Rostaing Coteaux du Languedoc Puech Chaud is medium bodied with clean, ripe fruit, a smooth texture and a crisp finish. (88 pts.)

2007 Rene Rostaing Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Blanc Les Lezardes(France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes)
Big, rich and intense, the 2007 Rene Rostaing Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Blanc Les Lezardes is packed with ripe melon and guava fruit notes mixed with crushed stone and spice nuances. The palate is medium to full bodied with a rich, fat texture and a medium length finish.(89 pts.)

2007 Rene Rostaing Coteaux du Languedoc Puech Noble (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc)
A blend of 90% syrah and 10% Mourvedre, the 2007 Rene Rostaing Coteaux du Languedoc Puech Noble possesses great aromatics of black cherry and raw meat mixed with copious slate and mineral notes. The palate is medium bodied with a classy, elegant texture, impressive balance and a long, clean finish. Pure, clean and delicious, I’d drink this over the next 8 to 10 years. (90 pts.)

2006 Rene Rostaing Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Les Lézardes (France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes)
100% Syrah from a very steep slope that is just outside Côte-Rôtie, the 2006 Rene Rostaing Vin de Pays des Collines Rhodaniennes Les Lézardes has smokey raspberry and cherry notes intermixed with vanilla, leather and subtle barnyard. The palate has good fruit but falls off on the mid-palate. It makes up for it with a long, impressive finish that shows fine grained tannins. (88 pts.)

2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie (France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie)
The 2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie possesses spicy and perfumed aromatics of raspberries, spiced meat, minerals and subtle barnyard. In the mouth, this has a medium bodied, elegant character to go along with ripe, sweet fruit, a silky texture and a long finish. Beautifully balanced and supple, this should drink well over the next 10 years. (90 pts.)

2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde (France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie)
The 2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie Côte Blonde is more feminine and supple than the ‘06 La Landonne and offers up pretty, complex aromas of sweet raspberries and red fruits mixed with wild herbs, game, minerals and smoke that lead into a rich, medium bodied palate. Soft and fruity with a vibrant core of sweet fruit and acidity, this firms up on the long finish, showing beautiful cut, precision and purity. This silky, beautifully balanced and harmonious Syrah was still going strong three days after opening and if anything, continued to flesh out and gain richness with air. (93 pts.)

2005 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne (France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie)
Big and intense, the 2005 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne is bigger and more concentrated then either the ‘06 Côte Blonde or ‘06 La Landonne and offers up gorgeous notes of smoked meat, violets, pepper and copious amounts of mineral and iron to go along with its medium to full bodied palate. Concentrated and rich, this has vibrant acidity, beautiful purity and a long, finish where the quality of the wine really shows. I’d let these rest for 5 or 6 years and then drink them over the following 20 years.
(94+ pts.)

2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne (France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie)
Deep, dark  red in color, the 2006 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne shows a perfumed, masculine and gamey nose of pepper meat, smoke and black raspberries intermixed with copious amounts of earth, iron and mineral aromas.  The palate is medium to full bodied with dark, meaty fruit, beautiful precision  and lively acidity that carries into the long finish.  Balanced, clean and long, this doesn’t show the level of harmony or integration of the Côte Blonde but has more structure and depth.  I’d hold for a couple years and then drink over the next 15+.  (93+ pts.)

Jorge Ordoñez

I had the lucky privilege of attending a recent tasting of the wines of renowned Spanish Importer, Jorge Ordoñez.  While I had originally planed to run in and just taste anything that had Grenache or Mourvedre (it is The Rhone Report for crying out loud…), the quality of the wines was simply too good to pass up… Rhone be damned, these wines are fantastic and I decided to do a full write up.

The wines were tasted non-blind, pours were excellent and I was able to taste through most wines more than once.

Bodegas Ateca

A joint venture between Jorge Ordoñez and the Gil family of Jumilla, this bodegas consistently produces outstanding wines that deliver upfront, rich fruit paired with nice underlying structure. The 2007 Atteca Old Vines shows copious amounts of sweet, spicy black cherry, smoke and earth aromas paired with a medium to full bodied palate. While this is a big fruited wine, there’s nice acidity, impressive balance and a clean, nice finish. The 2006 Atteca Armas Old Vines was a noticeable step up with fantastic aromas and a drop dead gorgeous palate. Strawberries, raspberries and vanilla aromas jump from the glass and lead into a medium to full bodied wine that displays forward, lush fruit, plenty of depth and a textured, long finish. Impressive.

2007 Bodegas Ateca / Zabrin Calatayud Atteca Old Vines (Spain, Aragón, Calatayud) - (90 pts.)
2006 Bodegas Ateca / Zabrin Garnacha Calatayud Atteca Armas Old Vines (Spain, Aragón, Calatayud) - (93 pts.)

Bodegas Nekeas

Why doesn’t this domaine get more notoriety? From their Rose to Cabernet to Chard, they consistently produce beautiful, balanced and rich wines that sell for a song… and yet you hear very little about them. For this report, I only tasted their 2007 Grenache El Chaparral Old Vine and it surpassed their very good 2006 release with clean black cherry, raspberries, flowers and serious mineral aromas intermixed with subtle asphalt and tar notes. Medium to full bodied, this is very clean, balanced and rich and shows fine grained tannins on the finish.

2007 Bodegas Nekeas Vega Sindoa Grenache El Chaparral Old Vine (Spain, Navarra) - (90 pts.)

Alto Moncayo

Consisting of 62 hectares of southwesterly facing old vine Garnacha, this estate’s current releases deliver. The 2006 Alto Moncayo is big, intense and rich with oak, vanilla and spice notes supporting stunning, high quality blackberry and raspberry fruit. In the mouth, it’s full bodied, lush, soft and open with a fantastic, rich, seamless texture that carries into a long finish. Impressive! The 2006 Aquilon displays a more restrained, structured and firm personality with clean, crisp aromas of black cherry, smokey oak, vanilla, candle wax and resin. The palate is full bodied, beautifully balanced, pure, precise and long. Simply a stunning wine!

2006 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Campo de Borja (Spain, Aragón, Campo de Borja) - (93 pts.)
2006 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Campo de Borja Aquilon (Spain, Aragón, Campo de Borja) - (96 pts.)

Sierra Cantabria

This estate was founded by Guillermo Eguren (in the family since 1870) and has some of the best terrain in Rioja. The 2005 Crianza offers bright aromas of dark berries, underbrush and dusty spice along with a medium body, sweet fruit and a light texture. The 2003 Reserva wasn’t showing much and might have been subtly corked. Muted aromatics gave way to a medium bodied, unexciting palate. Much better, the 2001 Gran Reserva showed sweet cherry, spiced meat, underbrush and floral notes. Just perfumed and nuanced on the nose, the palate is medium to full bodied, balanced and clean with solid structure and sweet fruit. The big, intense 2006 Colección Privada showed a richer, more fruit driven character with gorgeous strawberry, spice, earth and floral notes sitting on top of classy, well done oak. Medium to full bodied with fantastic richness and texture, this walks the line between fruit driven and old world structure and precision. The single vineyard 2005 Amancio started out closed and tightly wound but after considerable coaxing and swirling, started to open up. Possessing straight up, pure notes of black berry fruit mixed with meat, smoke and spice aromas, this has beautiful, high class oak and vanilla nuances adding richness and depth. The palate fleshes out with air and is medium to full bodied with fantastic fruit, great precision and plenty of fine grained tannins on the long finish. A very classy wine that should be cellared for 5 years and then should drink well for 20. The flagship 2006 El Bosque (from the El Bosque vineyard) was the most impressive wine in the Sierra Cantabria lineup and showed pure, deep aromatics of wild raspberries and blackberry, oak, spice, earth and underbrush. On the palate, this has a rich, full texture that expands in the mouth with tight fruit, solid structure and a long finish. Like the Amancio, this is an age worthy wine that has a long life ahead of it.

2005 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Crianza (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (90 pts.)
2003 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Reserva (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (NR)
2001 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Gran Reserva (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (92 pts.)
2006 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Colección Privada (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (93 pts.)
2005 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja Amancio(Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (93+ pts.)
2006 Bodegas Sierra Cantabria Rioja El Bosque (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (95 pts.)

San Vicente

This estate is run by the Eguren family (of Sierra Cantabria, Paganos and Protocolo among others) and the wine maker is Marcos Eguren. The Eguren family has started creating individual domaines tied to single vineyards as opposed to trucking the grapes to a central winery. The 2005 Señorío de San Vicente Tempranillo Rioja San Vicente comes from the San Vicente vineyard (planted with high density, 100% Tempranille Peludo Clone) and sees 20 months in a combination of French and American barrels. A full, rich wine, there’s plenty of smokey earth, raw meat and dark fruit paired with striking minerality. This leads into a full bodied, fantastically rich palate that is balanced, structured and long. While this has upfront fruit that makes it delicious now, it should age well given its structure, balance and depth of fruit.

2005 Señorío de San Vicente Tempranillo Rioja San Vicente (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (92+ pts.)

Vinedos de Paganos

Along the same lines as the San Vicente, this modern styled estate lies in Rioja Alaversa and the wines come from the El Puntido (61.74 acres) vineyard. Planted in 1975, this vineyard has franc-clay and calcareous clay composition and is planted with high density Tempranillo. The 2006 La Nieta is a stunning wine that possesses bright and perfumed aromatics of raspberries, flowers, spice and leather paired with smoke and subtle vanilla notes. The palate is awesome with rich, lush and textured fruit sitting on top of solid underlying structure. This improves in the glass and is a beauty of a wine!

2006 Viñedos de Páganos Rioja La Nieta (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (93 pts.)

Finca Allende

This estate’s entry level offering is the Finca Allende Rioja and the 2004 is an upfront, fruit driven wine with bright, candied strawberry and assorted dark fruit notes mixed with underbrush and spice. Medium bodied and while ripe, shows nice acidity and purity on the long, moderately tannic finish. The 2005 Finca Allende Rioja Calvario is noticeable step up and has big, rich notes of spicy fruit (raspberries/strawberries) mixed with resin, graphite and vanilla. Very clean and balanced on the palate, this has a smooth, beautiful texture and a long finish. Both of these wines pale next to the huge 2005 Finca Allende Rioja Aurus. Killer aromatics of blackberry, cassis, sweet oak, vanilla and smoke come leaping out of the glass and the palate is perfect. Full bodied, balanced and with an unbelievable texture, this beauty expands in the mouth and saturates the palate with fruit and tannin. Incredibly long and rich, I’ve no idea how long this will age (I’d guess a long time) but I’d drink em over the next 20+ years.

2004 Finca Allende Rioja (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (91 pts.)
2005 Finca Allende Rioja Calvario (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (94 pts.)
2005 Finca Allende Rioja Aurus (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (98 pts.)

Remirez de Ganuza

After tasting the wines, I was prepared to write how traditional this producer was and fully expected the estate to have been founded in some ancient date… imagine my surprise reading that, actually, the estate was founded in 1989… Located in Samaniego in the Rioja Alavesa region, the vineyard is 90% Tempranillo, 8% Graciano and 2% Garnacha with an average vine age of 60 years and the oldest clocking in at close to 90. The vineyard owner is Fernando Remirez de Ganuze and his philosophy of “Exceptional quality can only be achieved through a strict selection of grapes” has all grapes being hand picked and then passing through three checkpoints. The third check point has the bunches being cut into two parts, the shoulders and the feet. The shoulders are considered the top quality and the feet are not used in the Reserva or better wines. The 2003 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja Fincas de Ganuza is billed as a second wine but it sure impressed me. Spicy, rich, sweet and long, this had plenty of depth in a more upfront style. In contrast, the gorgeous 2004 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja was backwards, dense and amazingly structured and concentrated. Exhibiting fantastic dark fruit, resin, smoke and earth aromas, this is perfectly balanced, tannic and long.

2003 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja Fincas de Ganuza (Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja) - (91 pts.)
2004 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja (Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alavesa, Rioja) - (96 pts.)

Bodegas Muga

Located on the foot of the Montes Obarenses (Rioja Alta), this estate has a variety of micro climates from which to fashion a number of different styles of wine. And they do an outstanding job as all of their wines, from their base rose to top top Reserves, are excellent! The base 2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva was dark and rich but also a little wild and funky. The 2004 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva Selección Especial was full bodied and very rich with a fantastic texture. From magnum, the traditional 2001 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva Prado Enea was rocking. I tasted this multiple times over the afternoon and it continued to open up with fantastic, complex aromatics. Saddle leather, blackberry, black cherry, sweet spice and dusty earth come jumping from the glass and the palate is structured, pure and precise. Long and rich, this has a long life ahead of it! Shifting gears, the 2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Torre Muga is a ripe, full throttle wine with blackberry, cassis, toasted spice and smokey oak aromas, full body, stunning richness and a structured, long finish. Showing lots of oak at the moment, this needs some cellar time. The 2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Aro was even fuller and richer than the Muga Torre and had blockbuster aromatics (dark fruit, spice, earth, saddle leather, meat and who knows what else), full body, stunning balance and precision and a tannic, structured, very long finish.

2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva (Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja) - (91 pts.)
2004 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva Selección Especial (Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja) - (94 pts.)
2001 Bodegas Muga Rioja Reserva Prado Enea (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) -  (96 pts.)
2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Torre Muga (Reserva) (Spain, La Rioja, Rioja) - (95+ pts)
2005 Bodegas Muga Rioja Aro (Spain, La Rioja, La Rioja Alta, Rioja) - (97 pts.)

Emilio Moro

Making wine since he was 14 years old, Emilio Moro grew up in the heart of the Pesquera region and his family has been making wine for three generations. At this tasting, the 2005 Bodegas Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero showed a slightly funky profile with lots of obvious oak, toasted nut and rich dark fruit. The palate was impressive though with rich fruit, solid structure and tannic long finish. The 2006 Bodegas Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero Cepa 21 is from a new project of the Moro family and possesses fantastic, high quality fruit. On the nose this has blackberry and cassis fruit paired with subtle graphite and oak notes and on the palate, there’s stunning texture, beautiful balance and gobs of ripe tannin.

2005 Bodegas Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero (Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero) -(90 pts.)
2006 Bodegas Emilio Moro Ribera del Duero Cepa 21 (Spain, Castilla y León, Ribera del Duero) - (93 pts.)

Atalaya

Located in the southwest of Spain, between Jumilla and La Mancha, this bodegas is at an altitude of 2400 feet and sees dry, warm days paired with very cool nights. The indigenous variety of the region is Garnacha Tintorera and the estate consist of 26 Ha with vine ages ranging from 15 to 85 years. The 2007 Bodegas Atalaya Almansa is mostly Garnacha with a small percentage of Monastrell. Fermented in stainless steel, this sees 8 months in french oak and possesses young, jammy notes of raspberries, sweet spice, earth, vanilla and minerals. In the mouth, this is medium bodied, smooth and easy drinking but picks up some solid back end structure on the finish. Delicious now, this should drink well over the next couple of years.

2007 Bodegas Atalaya Almansa (Spain, Castilla-La Mancha, Almansa) - (89 pts.)

Can Blau

Can Blau is a relatively new operation that’s located in the village of El Masroig. They’ve purchased 60 acres of vineyards that have an average vine age of 35 years. The 2007 Cellers Can Blau Montsant had down right funky and stinky notes that gave way to raw meat, smokey earth, minerals and both black and blue fruits. Medium to full bodied in the mouth, this has a rich, mouth filling texture and a nice finish. The 2006 Cellers Can Blau Montsant Mas de Can Blau showed slightly volatile notes with blueberry and blackberry fruit mixed with spicy notes. Much better on the palate, there’s sweet, rich fruit, a lush texture and a long finish.

2007 Cellers Can Blau Montsant (Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant) - (90 pts.)
2006 Cellers Can Blau Montsant Mas de Can Blau (Spain, Catalunya, Tarragona, Montsant) - (90 pts.)

El Nido

El Nido is a joint venture between the Gil family (Finca Luzon, Juan Gil) and the Australia winemaker, Chris Ringland. The 2006 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio is a blend of 30% Cabernet Sauvignon from 29 year old vines and 70% Monastrell from 64 year old vines and sees 26 months in new French and American oak barrels. Offering up a decidedly ripe, decadent bouquet of blackberry, cassis, coffee, oak and smoke, this is a slutty, full bore wine with full body, huge texture, sweet fruit and a long finish. The only nit would be that it’s slightly soft on the palate and lacks a little edge. I’m not complaining though and loved it. In complete contrast to the forward, lush and sexy Clio, the 2006 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla El Nido is tight and slightly backwards with deep dark fruit, tar, smoke, spice and high class and very well done, sweet oak aromas. Showing fantastic richness and depth, this is full bodied, impeccably balanced, structured and long. An absolutely gorgeous bottle of wine!

2006 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla Clio (Spain, Murcia, Jumilla) - (95 pts.)
2006 Bodegas El Nido Jumilla El Nido (Spain, Murcia, Jumilla) - (98 pts.)

Talk about a whirlwind trip… Traci and I headed out from Denver late Friday evening and arrived at LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) around 11PM or so… did the drive up to Paso Robles for the Hospice du Rhone grand tasting the next morning… tasted, tasted and then tasted some more… till around 8PM… tons of fantastic juice and the quality coming out of this region is impressive and teeth staining is an understatement. The look of horror from Traci when I smiled at her had me digging a tooth brush out of the car prior to dinner… We then high tailed it back to LA that evening and caught the 8AM flight out on Sunday… When we walked in the door on Sunday, the couch never looked so good!

I’ll have notes up later this week but a couple high level thoughts…

The number of producers participating in this event is amazing and the 3 hours allotted to the tasting is just not enough time to do everyone justice. More than once I felt guilty while walking past a producer on my way to taste someone else’s wine. I’m already planning another trip over the next month or so to try and do this region justice… This event was also highly slanted to the local producers with very few European wines being poured and it would be nice to see more of a mix of producers.

As to the wines, some standouts include 2007 Paul Lato Syrah Cinematique Larner Vineyard. Smooth, rich and beautifully lush, this was the bottle I grabbed for the barbecue to finish the evening. Both the 2007 Saxum Bone Rock & 2007 Saxum Broken Stones were fantastic with the Broken Stones showing a smidge denser fruit and the Bone Rock being more bright and floral. Bradley Brown of Big Basin continues to produce fantastic, dense and structured Syrahs and his 2006 and 2007 Rattlesnake Rock Syrah showed serious fruit and depth paired with the cut and edge that a lot of big, full throttle wines can lack.   Torbreck was pouring their full lineup and the ’05 RunRig, ’06 Pict and ’06 Les Amis were all knockouts…

Other notable wines… ’05 Guigal d’Ampuis, 1997 Sean Thackrey Orion, the full Core lineup by Dave Corey, Beckman, Stolpman, Jonata, Epiphany, Denner, Tablas Creek and some stellar wines by Larry Schaffer of Tercero wines…

I opted to spend more time with individual wines and taste less but there’s only so much you can do in a setting like this.

Regrets… I was in Cali and missed the In-n-Out burger… what the hell was I thinking….

Full tasting notes can be found HERE.

Located in the heart of the Gigondas vineyards (west of the actual village center), this family run estate has been in the Cartier/Goubert family since 1653 and has been run by Jean-Pierre and Mireille Cartier since the 1970s.   The domaine is comprised of roughly 23 Ha (57 acres) situated  throughout Gigondas, Beaumes de Venise, Lafare, Sablet and Seguret.  While they produce a number of wines, their flagship bottling is the Cuvée Florence which is named after Mireille and Jean-Pierre’s daughter.  Given how it’s common today to call domaines that use new barrique “modern”, readers might be surprised to know that the domaine has been aging this Cuvée for upwards of 24 months in 50% new french oak since 1985.

Currently, all grapes are de-stemmed and slightly crushed prior to fermentation with blending taking place after maturing.  The wines are bottled unfined and unfiltered and the domaine also performs a single bottling session.

I drank through each of these bottles over a number of days and came away pretty impressed. While the 1990 Gigondas Traditional faded quickly, the Cuvée Florence is certainly an outstanding, cellar worthy wine. Each vintage offered similar aromatics with beautiful purity, balance and ripe fruit and it’s easy to imagine the younger vintages aging similar to the fully mature yet regal ‘86. Given the spice, red fruit and silky textured profile, burgundy lovers should find a lot to enjoy with these wines as well.

2001 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas)
The 2001 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence is aged half in new oak and half in one year old barrels and possesses a perfumed and subtle bouquet of spiced cherries, licorice, spice box and Turkish coffee aromas that lead into a medium to full bodied palate. Smooth, integrated and balanced, this has beautiful freshness and acidity, a silky texture and a long finish. While the barrique aging is still apparent, it complements rather than detracts. Drinking well now, everything points to this aging beautifully.  (91 pts.)

1998 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas)
The deep red colored 1998 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence is very rich and meaty with sour cherry, smoky earth, spice box, violets and floral notes leading into a medium to full bodied palate.  There’s nice sweetness to the fruit but also notable freshness and purity paired with a smooth texture and a long finish.   An ever so slight dry edge to the tannins should be something to watch.  (90+? pts.)

1995 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence(France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas)
Reminiscent of the ‘01 Cuvée Florence, the 1995 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence possesses fantastic aromatics of dried cherries, spice box, peppered meat and licorice.  Beautifully ripe with nice complexity, the palate is medium to full bodied with a core of sweet fruit, a smooth, rich texture, impressive balance and a long finish.  This has serious fruit density on the palate paired with mouth numbing, ripe, fine grained tannins on the finish and while a beautiful drink now, has a long life ahead of it. (92 pts.)

1986 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence(France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas)
The fully mature 1986 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas Cuvée Florence shows pretty aromatics of sweet black cherries and dried red fruits intermixed with black tea, forest floor and subtle suavage and licorice aromas.  In the mouth, it’s medium bodied with a light, smooth and integrated texture to go along with sweet, mature fruit that fades on the finish to show the acid and tannin structure of the wine.  This needs air to show well with the fruit sweetening and gaining depth over the course of the evening and while I have no doubt that I would have liked this wine more 10 years ago, it still offers lots of enjoyment. I wrote this note based on drinking through half the bottle over the course of an evening and originally rated it 88 points. Unfortunately, this showed subtle TCA early on the second day and was undrinkable by the evening.(NR)

1990 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas)
Sporting a red color with obvious bricking/orange at the edges, the 1990 Domaine les Goubert Gigondas offers up tired aromas of dried fruits, hot asphalt, truffle, dirt and leather.  On the palate, this faded quickly in the glass but for a short time, showed medium body with a smooth, integrated texture, sweet fruit and nice grip to the finish.  With air however, the acidity kicked in on the finish and the fruit receded, so if you have em, drink em. (80 pts.)

This past Sunday I hosted a 10 year retrospective of 1999 Châteauneuf-du-Papes and seeing as how I’m on record calling the vintage “mediocre”, I almost feel the need to apologize. While not up to ’98, ’00, ’01 or ’03, the region has had an amazing run of strong vintages and 1999 is certainly part of that group. At 10 years of age, these wines are drinking beautifully and offer classic, textbook aromas and flavors with most still offering a solid 5+ years of prime time drinking.  Another strong plus for the ‘99s is that they’re still affordable and most bottles, even the special cuvees, can be purchased for less than 100 dollars.

We started the evening off right with a rocking bottle of 2007 Alban Vineyards Viognier. Full bodied, lush, rich and pure, this had bright minerality and a core of acidity that kept it honest and interesting.

The first flight of reds consisted of a pair from Marcoux and the 1999 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape was one of the more mature bottles of the evening. Ripe, rich and with roasted herb, licorice and a meaty, port like character, this should probably be consumed over the next 4 to 5 years. The 100% grenache (from 90+ year old vines) 1999 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes was in another league and while it started out completely closed, it slowly opened up over the evening to show fantastic, pure dark fruit, cassis, licorice and spice notes. Structured on the palate, this needs an hour or more in a decanter for drinking now and has plenty of structure for further aging.

Flight two showcased the wines of Vieille Julienne and both were drinking beautifully. The 1999 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape started out closed but improved in the glass whereas the 1999 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve was firing on all cylinders! Fantastic aromatics, stunning purity and solid structure all show up and this will offer spectacular drinking over the next 10 or 15 years.  My third bottle this year and each one has been stunning.  Interestingly, more than one person commented on the graphite and almost chocolaty richness to the wine and questioned if this sees any barrique.  All old foudres per the domaine.

The third flight was a personal favorite and these both showed similar profiles with pure, up front and dark fruit driven personalities.   Aromatically, the 1999 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou Les Quartz was very similar to its big brother with thick, rich cassis and dark fruit mixed with beautiful spice aromas and a mineral driven core. The 1999 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou Reserve showed more restraint and structure on the palate but had decadent, rich fruit, beautiful balance and stunning purity. Both of these wines are on the upward slope with regards to aging.

The age worthy 1999 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul was structured, tight and slightly burly with rich fruit, minerals and iron aromas.  A candidate for another year or two in the cellar, it was the complete opposite of the 1999 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Barbe Rac. Light, perfumed, floral and spice laden, this is a beautifully balanced, hedonistic wine that seems to be drinking at point.

A slightly controversial bottle of 1999 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape had some calling foul. I wasn’t one of them and found nothing objectionable and thought it showed solid fruit, spice, roasted herb and mushroom notes, medium to full body and plenty of length on the finish. Possibly softer than a bottle earlier this year, this was still more than a little enjoyable. A cruel joke was the corked bottle of 1999 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin. The only corked wine of the evening and my second corked Hommage in a row.  While this was still drinkable, the nose was hideously corked.  I sucked down my share before the TCA could completely saturate the palate.

The 1999 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée was showing the typical, stunning Pégaü spice aromas along with a masculine, structured, awesomely fruited palate. I’m not sure what the going rate for this is but it offers gorgeous Pégaü terroir in a classic package. Another textbook, classic Chateauneuf, the 1999 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau was impressive with intense aromatics, beautiful balance and a savory, rich texture.  Certainly more accessible than the ‘98, this still seems young to me.

The final flight capped the evening nicely and the 1999 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin showed more southern Rhone typicity than normal with deep, rich and thick fruit, garrigue, smoke and mineral aromas and flavors. This is young and has plenty of years left. The hedonistic 1999 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape offered up stunning sweetness paired with a rich, lush and perfectly balanced palate. Pure pleasure and I’d drink these over the next 10 years. The 1999 Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf-du-Pape was a step down from the other wines with straightforward aromatics and a rich, meaty palate.  Still very enjoyable and I’d drink bottles over the coming 4 to 5 years.

Thanks to everyone involved and this was another fantastic event with great friends, wine and food!

Domaine Saint Luc

www.domaine-saint-luc.com
Route de Suze la Rousse
26790 La Baume de Transit
France Tel : 33 (0) 4 75 98 11 51 Fax : 33 (0) 4 75 98 19 22
US Importer:  Ventoux Fine Wines, LLC

This estate was created in 1971 and is located in the “Drôme Provençale” Region of France (think northern part of the Southern Rhone.)  Currently run by Stéphane Hémard and Rémi and Estelle Cook, the estate covers roughly 30 Hectare spread throughout the Tricastin Hills and Cotes du Rhone region with vineyards maintaining a similar clay and rolled stone profile.

While the domaine produces a number of cuvees, their L’Excellence de St Luc is the flagship wine and comes from old vines from the estates best parcels.  A blend of mostly Syrah with small quantities of Viognier, this wine sees 100% destemming and is aged in both barrel and vat.  While I have a preference for the ‘05, both of these wines show considerable finesse paired with admirable purity, freshness and balance.  Both bottles improved with air and I’d recommend drinking the ‘04 over the next 5 to 6 years whereas the ‘05 would be a candidate from hanging onto for a year or two to see if it gains complexity.

2004 Domaine Saint Luc Coteaux du Tricastin L’Excellence de St Luc (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Coteaux du Tricastin)
A blend of Syrah and Viognier, the 2004 Domaine Saint Luc Coteaux du Tricastin L’Excellence de St Luc possesses spicy, slightly reticent aromatics of cassis, plum, dusty earth, leather and meaty notes and with air, picks up a touch more richness with subtle graphite and chocolate notes emerging. Medium bodied in the mouth, there’s plenty of sweet fruit to go along with a smooth, balanced texture and a medium length finish. I’d drink this over the next 5 to 6 years. (88 pts.)

2005 Domaine Saint Luc Coteaux du Tricastin L’Excellence de St Luc (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Coteaux du Tricastin)
The 2005 Domaine Saint Luc Coteaux du Tricastin L’Excellence de St Luc (97% Syrah and 3% Viognier) is a step up from the ’04 with pure, clean aromatics of cassis and plum fruit, violets, lead pencil and smoky, charcoal and chocolate nuances.   This leads into a medium to full bodied wine that displays considerable polish along with a smooth, rich texture, beautiful balance and a medium to long finish.   While approchable now, this should benifit from a year or two in the cellar and drink well over the next 8 to 10 years.   (90+ pts.)

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Le Ventabren
The 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne Le Ventabren is a blend of 70% Grenache (50/60 years old), 20% Syrah (35 years old) and10% Carignan (55/60 years old) and sees cement tank aging before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. The nose shows ripe, heady notes of black cherries and raspberries mixed with minerals, earth and subtle spice notes. Fresh and lively, this fleshed out in the glass and has impressive purity and fruit. It’s medium to full bodied in the mouth with a fantastic, silky texture, beautiful balance, sweet fruit and a long finish. This is a smooth, polish Côtes du Rhône to drink over the next 10 years. (91pts.)

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Vin de Pays Le Petit Scarabee
Offering up notes of sweet dark fruit, spice, underbrush and leather, the bistro priced 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Vin de Pays Le Petit Scarabee shows ripe, interesting aromatics, medium body, a light mid-palate and a ripe, tannic finish. Textured, delicious and easy drinking, the lack of depth in the mid-palate and tannic finish suggest that this is better drunk young. (87 pts.)

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau La Ponce Blanc
A beautiful wine, the 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau La Ponce blanc (a blend of 40% Roussanne, 40% Marsanne and 20% old Clairette & Grenache) offers up crisp, clean aromas of pineapple, green apples, minerals and flowers. These lead into a medium to full bodied white that possesses vibrant acidity, juicy fruit, plenty of edge and clarity and a grippy, long finish. While this shows lots of palate cleansing acidity, it has the fruit to back it up. (90 pts.)

2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau La Ponce Blanc
In a different style than the 2007, the 2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau La Ponce possesses deep, rich and almost musky aromatics of honeyed pineapple and tropical notes, candle wax, minerals and white flowers. The palate is medium to full bodied with a lush, soft texture, beautiful balance and an impressive finish. While lower in acidity when compared to the 2007, it might just have more fruit while still showing plenty of edge and cut. (90 pts.)

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Les Antimagnes Rosé
Showing fantastic aromatics of wild strawberries, cherries, minerals and baking spices, the completely dry 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Les Antimagnes is medium bodied, balanced, crisp and pure. This has great acidity, ripe fruit and plenty of length on the finish. (90 pts.)

The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 1, Rasteau
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 2, Les Hautes Granges
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 3, Héritage 1924

Coming from a single north westerly facing, cold and windy vineyard in Villedieu, Domaine des Escaravailles Les Hautes Granges bottling is 90% Syrah from 30 year old vines and 10% Grenache from 60 year old vines and sees up to a year in barrique. Hand harvested, meticulously sorted, 100% destemmed and bottled unfined and unfiltered. In a good year 5,000 bottles are produced.

All in all, these are fantastic wines that break the stereotype of muddled, overripe Syrah from the south of France with beautiful purity, lifted aromatics, lush textures and plenty of flesh to go along with their unique characters.  While there’s certainly similarities between these wines, each has a very unique character with the 2007 taking the fruit bomb status, the 2006 showing stunning purity and edge, the 2005 a structured tannic and streamlined profile and the 2004 showing rich fruit with nice complexity.  All cellar worthy, interesting wines!

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
The viscous, glass staining 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges possesses a stunning deep purple, completely opaque color along with blockbuster aromatics of earthy blackberry jam, cassis, earth, licorice and chocolate aromas. While this is aged in new oak, there’s not a hint of wood showing and in the mouth, it’s full bodied with gobs of sweet fruit, glycerol and a soft, lush texture. Despite the size, the purity is outstanding, it’s well balanced and has nice acidity keeping things interesting and fresh. It has sound structure hiding under the fruit but I can’t see any reason to wait. (92/93 pts.)

2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
The 2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges offers up a rich, deep bouquet of blackberry and cassis fruit intermixed with new oak, graphite and chocolate aromas. Beautifully pure and clean, this has nice precision, freshness and cut to the aromas and in the mouth, it’s full bodied with decadent fruit, impressive balance and a long finish with ripe tannins. This shows more precision and obvious oak than the 2007 and I’d drink it over the next 10 or so  years. (93 pts.)

2005 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
Very northern rhone’esk on the nose, the 2005 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges possesses fresh, crisp aromatics of raspberries, leather, minerals and fresh cut flowers.  There’s subtle spice and graphite notes mixed in and this shows nice complexity paired with rich fruit.  This leads into a medium to full bodied wine that has a streamlined, smooth texture, crisp acids and a solid, tannic underlying structure.  Firms up on the finish and while approachable now, is a candidate for short term cellaring. (91 pts.)

2004 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges
Roasted herbs, blackberry, charcoal, bakers chocolate and a big dollop of dirt come jumping out of the glass of 2004 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Roaix Les Hautes des Granges and as this sat in the glass, it gained both complexity (cigar, smoke and meaty notes) and fruit intensity.  The palate is medium to full bodied with stunning fruit, a rich, mouth filling texture and a long finish where fine grained tannins show up.  While this lacks the freshness of the younger vintages, it shows impressive complexity, solid fruit and plenty of character.  Drink over the next 10+ years.
(90 pts.)

The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 1, Rasteau
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 3, Héritage 1924
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 4

The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 1, Rasteau

In Provencal, Escaravaille means beetle and the name of this domaine comes from the nickname given by the Rasteau people in the 17^th century to the monastic order called the “Black Penitents of Avignon.” This order worked the vineyards wearing long black cloaks and when seen from the village below, the monks looked like beetles scurrying among the vines.

Gilles and Daniel Ferran

Located just outside of Roaix, this estate has been owned by the Ferran family for three generations and was purchased by Jean-Louis Ferran in 1953. The estate has since passed to Jean-Louis’s grandson, Gilles Ferran in 1999 and after years of selling their grapes to the likes of Chateau Beaucastel and J.L. Chave, bottled their first estate wine, the Rasteau “La Ponce.”  Gilles Ferran studied oenology in Montpellier (alongside his long time friend and current consultant, Philippe Cambie) and then worked with his father Daniel in the winery prior to taking the reins in 1999.

The domaine spreads over 40 hectare on Rasteau and 25 Hectares on Cairanne, Villedieu and Saint Roman with diverse soils but a common calcareous and clay sub-terrain.

And now onto the wines…
These are imported by Peter Mesrobian of Ventoux Fine Wines, LLC and I was able to purchase all of these through Flickinger Wines in Chicago. I’ve grouped them in some semblance of order with the first part covering their two Rasteau bottlings, the Classique and the more serious “La Ponce” bottling.

2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau Classique
The bright purple colored 2007 Domaine des Escaravailles Cote du Rhone Village Rasteau Classique is a blend of 70% Grenache (40 year old vines), 30% Syrah (30 year old vines) and offers up a pretty bouquet of raspberry jam, black cherries, fresh cut flowers, black pepper and mineral nuances. Beautifully pure and clean, the Grenache is front and center and this has nice lift, freshness and verve. The palate is medium bodied with light concentration, sweet, beautifully textured fruit, impressive balance and a long finish. Drink this over the next 4 to 6 years. (88 pts.)

2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau La Ponce
Sporting a deep red, semi opaque color, the 2006 Domaine des Escaravailles Cote du Rhone Village Rasteau la Ponce (80% Grenache from 80 year old vines and 20% Syrah from 35 year old vines that sees 2 to 3 year old barrels; 100% destemmed) possesses deep, rich aromas of macerated bing cherries, dusty earth, minerals and bakers chocolate. With air, this shows hints of barrique with candle wax and subtle meaty notes. This leads into a medium to full bodied wine that has rich fruit, a full, savory texture, admirable balance and a long finish. This has depth and sweetness to the fruit but also balancing acidity. The quality fruit and underlying structure should have this wine drinking well over the next 10 to 12 years. (91 pts.)

The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 2, Les Hautes Granges
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 3, Héritage 1924
The Wines of Domaine des Escaravailles – Part 4