Tasting
notes December 2002 – Don
Quattlebaum
During December 2002, I made a trip through the
Rhône
Valley, Burgundy and Alsace. My tasting notes follow:
Southern Rhone Valley
2002 vintage overview
As everyone know by now, the 2002 harvest in the Southern
Rhône valley was difficult to say the least.
Rains hit Costieres de Nimes the worst and flooding
that not only ruined the harvest but in many cases
washed away the vineyards and homes as well. In Chateauneuf
du Pape the flooding caused many to just leave the
ruined grapes on the vines, resulting in an overall
harvest down about 30%.
This is the bad news. The good news is two fold. As
always, the extremely bad weather was very localized,
meaning that many areas were not nearly as affected.
Always important, but even more so this year, is the
domaine. Those that take extra care in the vineyards
and in the cellar produced surprisingly good wines.
2001 vintage overview
The 2001 vintage is very good to excellent in the
Southern Rhône. Some domaines made their
best wines ever, while others made wines not quite
up to their
2000s or 1998s, but very good nonetheless. The 2001
vintage is marked by a better structure than 2000
or 1999, giving more high notes and definition to
the wines. Sort of the structure of 1997 with the
fruit and depth of 2000.
2000 vintage overview
The 2000 vintage in the Southern Rhône is remarkable.
The tannins are wonderfully supple and allow for early
drinking. This will not be a long-lived vintage, but
for the next 10 years or so these wines will provide
great pleasure
1999 vintage overview
1999 would be a highly sought after vintage were it
not sandwiched between 1998 and 2000. There were
some remarkable wines produced, but most producers
had better 1998s and 2000s. These wines will age
a little better than the 2000s however and are very
pleasurable now.
1998 vintage overview
The 1998 vintage stands with 1990 as one of the greatest
vintages ever. The wines are massive with huge but
agreeable tannins, loaded with complex fruits and
will last seemingly forever.
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Domaine
du Galet des Papes – Jean-Luc
Mayard
Jean-Luc
Mayard is a strict traditionalist. He
does not own a filter, never de-stems,
and still makes wine the way his forefathers
did. His one concession to modern winemaking
is his temperature controlled stainless
vats. His vineyards are extremely old
and his Vieilles Vignes Cuvée
has about 30% mourvedre, which comes
from vines that are over 100 years old.
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2001
Galet des Papes Blanc
Mostly Clairette. Bottled last summer. Nice floral and tropical fruit
nose. In the mouth it has nice acidity with a lot of mineral aspects.
A little austere, Chablis-like. No 2002 was made, as much of the white
harvest was damaged. Those grapes that were good enough to save went
into the red wine. Good.
2002 reds were not tasted here as they were going through malo and according
to Jean-Luc would give an undeserved negative outlook on the vintage
if tasted today.
2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition
To be bottled in June. Loads of grenachey, bright fruit. Chocolate. Lots
of tannins here. Should round out with more time in foudre. This is Good+.
2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes
Loads of grenachey pruniness. Big tannins, ripe fruit. This needs more
time to round out, but the stuffing is here for sure. Very Good-.
2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition
Bottled May 2002. Loaded with ripe briary fruit, garrigue and light barnyard.
Perfect balance. Supple but powerful, very easy to drink. Very Good+.
2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes
Beautiful dark, brooding color. Chocolate and dark plum, bursting with
rich fruit. A slight grenache pruniness. Great depth and balance. A knockout.
Outstanding.
1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition
Rich, complex. spicy. Nicely balanced. This is showing much, much better
than it did a year ago. Showing itself very well now. Very Good-.
1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes
Again, loaded with richness like all of the VVs, but very different flavors
than the others. Somewhat closed, but good finesse. More bright fruit
here instead of brooding darker fruit. Very Good+
1998 Chateauneuf du Pape Tradition
Explosive fruit on nose. Violets. Complex red and black fruits. Slight
animal context. Wonderful balance. Not quite as full as 2000, but more
powerful. 15% alc. Outstanding-.
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Domaine
des Saumades – Franck and Murielle
Mousset
Franck and Murielle Mousset bought
this estate, located near Rayas just
a few years ago. Almost 100% grenache.
Franck’s style was honed for years at
the family’s domaine, Clos St Michel where he still serves as winemaker.
His wines have a very modern feel to them. His whites are barrel aged and always
give a wonderful complexity while the reds have wonderful balance.
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2002
Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
Clairette and Bourbelenc. Nice floral nose. Nice fat tropical fruits. Lively.
Should be good to drink in the next two years. Good.
2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
Bottled 15 days ago. Very nice fruit. Good grip. Spicy. Not at all marked by
the oak. Unusual in that he allows the maolactic fermentation for his whites
normally. Very Good-
2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
Nice fruit, but lacking some grip. A little flabby. Good+
2002 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge
Malo finished. Very grenachy. Somewhat disjointed and unbalanced. Seems like
a 1992. I’m not sure this will come together. OK-
2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge
To be bottled in March. Much darker and richer than above. Loads of spice and
depth. Loads of life here. Garrigue and spice. 15.3% alc. Wonderful fruit. Very
Good+.
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Domaine
du Pesquier – Guy and Lydia Boutière
Guy Boutière makes classic Côtes du Rhône and Gigondas. His
wines have sometimes been more up and down based on the vintage but he has recently
been dragged into the new century after seeing the results some of his friends
are having with more difficult vintages. He has started experimenting with de-stemming,
buying some new barrels to age his syrah in, and has some very nice stainless
vats. The result is that his wines, always fantastic in good vintages, are now
becoming better and better in more difficult vintages. Like Mayard however, he
wouldn’t let us taste 2002 as it was going through malo.
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2001
Vin de Pays de Vaucluse
Nice dark color. Nose is closed at the moment. Good grip, with nice dark fruits.
Decent finish. This is Good+ for what it is.
2001 Côtes du Rhône
From Cuve. To be bottled this spring. Spicy, big tannins for a CDR. This is a
good example. Good++.
2000 Côtes du Rhône
More supple, but not quite the balance or structure of above. Nice 2000 richness.
Dusty. Good+
2001 Gigondas
We tasted several different cuves as the wine has not yet been blended. We even
made a lab blend to try and see what the finished wine will be like. Heady perfumed
nose, with violets and blueberries. The syrah from the new oak gives great complexity
and depth, but in the final blend the oak is certainly not over pronounced. Wonderful
balance and length. Very Good + at least.
2000 Gigondas
Wonderful balance and suppleness. Lighter than 2001, but very flattering. Not
quite the high notes of the above, but a very pleasing wine to drink now. Should
age 5-10 years. Very Good.
1999 Gigondas
A little tannic. Showing some pruniness. Somewhat closed. Nice balance, though.
Long finish. Very Good-.
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Domaine
Brusset – Daniel and Laurent
Brusset
The Brussets were some of the very first to use new oak barrels for their top
Gigondas “Les Hauts de Montmirail”. They are not, however, untraditional.
They just have some extraordinary vineyard sites that seem more like the slopes
of Cornas than Gigondas. With the ultra rich grapes produced here the oak is
certainly not overbearing, in fact, it adds great complexity. A great range of
wines here. Much less hurt by the weather here in 2002 as opposed to Chateauneuf.
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2001
Cairanne Blanc
Nice floral notes. Good grip. A mini Chateauneuf du Pape. Nice. Good++
2001 Cairanne Chabrille
Bottled last week. A little troubled by the bottling, but rich and deep. The
syrah shows well here. Good balance. Should be Very Good- at least.
2000 Cairanne Hommage Andre
Also bottled last week. HUGE wine. Loaded with fruit. Long and luscious. A massive,
age worthy Cairanne. Unbelievable. Very Good ++.
2001 Côtes du Ventoux
Bursting with raspberry fruit, a fruit bomb. Very Good for what it is. Better
than 2000
2001 Côtes du Rhône
Again better than 2000. Very nice modern style. Red fruits and good structure.
Very Good for CDR.
2001 Cairanne Travers
Wonderful spicy fruit. Nice. Great complexity in a wine that’s ready to
drink. Very Good
2002 Cairanne Blanc from Cuve.
Very light color. A little harsh. I’m not sure about this one.
2002 Cotes du Ventoux
Racked today. Good color and fruity nose. Lacking a little depth from the 2001
but an enjoyable quaffer. Good.
2002 Côtes du Rhône
A little raw, but good stuffing here. Suprisingly good fruit. This should be
Good at least.
Another example was from Cairanne that Laurent Brusset is going to add to the
straight CDR to boost it a little. This had more spice and complexity and will
certainly add to the final blend.
2002 Cairanne Travers
Good color. A little reduced, but has good depth. This should be a good short
term wine. Nice complexity. Good or Good+
2002 Gigondas
Suprisingly 14% alc. Dark and very nice flavors. This will be a very nice short
term Gigondas. Good balance here. Good++ at least.
2002 Gigondas Les hauts de Montmirail
Hard to believe. This is rich and deep. Brooding, even. This wine has the potential
to be Very Good.
2001 Les Hauts de Montmirail
From barrels. Loaded with vanilla and spice. Black, deep, spicy fruit. Bacon
fat. This is a monster of a Gigondas. Outstanding.
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Domaine
de Beaurenard – Daniel and Frédéric
Coulon
Daniel and Frédéric Coulon have not just taken over the reins of
Domaine de Beaurenard from their parents and kept the status quo, they have raised
the bar considerably. This is quite a feat considering that their father Paul
(and many generations before him) had already established the domaine as a leader
in Chateauneuf du Pape. They have a modern winery and they are among the forefront
of the new generation of vignerons that believe that the number one priority
is to work tirelessly in the vineyards in order to bring in the best fruit possible
at harvest. The harvest of 2002 is a prime example. According to Daniel, just
a few weeks before the harvest it was thought that another great vintage was
on the way, continuing the string started in 1998. There was just a small amount
of rot in the vineyards, and most vignerons were ignoring it, as the amount was
not enough to worry about. The Coulons, however, went to work. They immediately
cut out all of the rot and cleared away the leaves allowing any moisture to be
dried quickly by the mistral. Then the floods hit. In vineyards with just a little
rot, the rot spread like wildfire throughout the vineyard. The Coulon’s
also picked their entire Chateauneuf parcels in just 3 days where normally they
do it over a couple of weeks. In their Côtes du Rhône vineyards in
Rasteau they were much less affected and the grapes came in good shape. All is
not rosy however. Even though they made remarkable wine in 2002, they only had
about 65% of the normal harvest. Some vineyards were flooded and other grapes
were discarded by a severe triage. All in all an amazing result.
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2002
Côtes du Rhône Rosé
Nice raspberry nose. Good grip and nice spice. Refreshing. No problem here. Good.
2002 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
Nice fruit. Still some CO2 present but should be fine by bottling time. Good
floral and spice notes. Good++
2001 Côtes du Rhône
35hl/ha instead of normal 45hl/ha. Very concentrated, seems almost like CDR Villages.
Dark fruits. Round and very powerful for CDR. Good++ at least
2000 CDR
This is nice, but doesn’t have the zip of above. Nice round dark fruit.
Good+
2001 Rasteau
auBrooding, big, fat deep. Dark plum and licorice. Long smooth finish. Very Good.
2000 Rasteau
Nice sweetness and depth. Very supple. Ready to drink. A wonderful moderately
powerful wine. I’d drink this everyday. (I just about do already). Very
Good-
1999 Rasteau
Very good structure. Not as sweet fruit as 2000 nor as long as 2001, but still
nice. Very Good-
2000 Rasteau Les Argiles Bleues
A new wine made from a special barrel of Rasteau. Blueberry syrup on the nose,
nice and full. This is a special CDR Villages. Very Good+
2001 Rasteau Les Argiles Bleues
Turbo version of regular Rasteau. This has wonderful black fruits. Even better
structure and length than above. Very Good ++
2001 Chateauneuf du Pape
Nice spice on nose with violets and black plum. Black plum continues in mouth
with some minerally, gravely notes. Silky. Great finish. Outstanding-
2000 Chateauneuf du Pape
Wonderful complex fruit. Like most 2000s has fine, dusty tannins. Soft and delicious.
Not quite up to 1998 or 2001, but very well balanced and ready to go. Very Good++
1999 Chateauneuf du Pape
Sweet and a little more tannic. Not the complexity of the above two wines, but
very nice. Very Good
1998 Chateauneuf du Pape
Secondary aromas have started here. The nose gives a hint of things to come,
but in the mouth still tight and backwards. Huge wonderful black fruits. Outstanding
2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Boisrenard
To be bottled March/April 2003. Wonderful spice vanilla and coffee on nose, showing
the oak barrels. In the mouth however, not overly marked by the oak at all. Wild
blackberry, spice silky and long. Wow! Outstanding+
2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Boisrenard
More ready than above, but still just an infant. Just the right touch of oak.
Soft, elegant. Tannins at the end, but supple. Outstanding
1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Boisrenard
Nose similar to above but a little more closed. More red raspberry here instead
of darker fruits. Great structure but not quite as good as above two wines. Very
Good ++
2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Boisrenard Blanc
Less spice than normal, but still loaded with exotic fruits. Pineapple mango
and sweet blood orange. Very Good-
2002 Côtes du Rhône
From stainless cuve. Malo finished. Slightly raw on the nose at this early date,
but nice coffee notes. Very nice fruit. Good stuffing. If this is this good,
what are the other 2002s going to be like? Good+
2002 Rasteau
From cuve. Not yet assembled. In mid malo. Very nice. Really dark and full of
fruit. Good amount of sweetness in the fruit. This should be Very Good-
2002 Chateauneuf du Pape
One cuve finished malo, the rest still going. Some chocolate, nice structure.
Good tannin level. Lots of syrah feel to it. I am blown away by the quality of
these 2002s. Very Good.
2002 Chateauneuf du Pape Boisrenard
I can’t believe the quality here. Big brooding loaded with dark wild black
fruits and spice. This is Very Good++ |
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Northern
Rhône Valley
2002 Vintage overview
Here again as in all difficult vintages, those that
work the hardest in the vineyards have the easiest
time in the cellars. Many people lost up to half
of their crop. There is a lot of variation in the
area
and there were a lot of very localized weather problems.
The best wines will give great satisfaction, even
if they don’t age for a long time.
2001 Vintage overview
As in the south many made better wines in 2001 than
2000, but not all. Better acid levels led to better
structured wines and overall better quality if the
fruit was there. Some great examples to be found.
2000 Vintage overview
The 2000 vintage wines in the Northern Rhône
are of the classic type, except that they are more
supple than normal. The fine dusty tannins give wines
that can be enjoyed over the near term with much
pleasure.
1999 Vintage overview
The 1999 vintage was to the north what 1990 was to
the south, one of the vintages of the century. Amazingly
ripe grapes with high alcohol levels, but very well
balanced wines nonetheless. It was easy to make good
wines in 1999. The problem is not finding good wines,
it’s finding any wines still available as they
were sold out quickly.
1998 vintage overview
There were many outstanding wines made in 1998, but
there were also many dogs made. I recently had a
tasting of 16 different Côte-Rôties and
the quality level was abysmal. There were 3 very
good wines, a
hand full of decent wines and 3 or 4 that were flawed
and undrinkable. Unfortunately this tells more about
the quality of the winemaker than it does about the
vintage.
Alain
Voge – Cornas
Alain Voge makes terrific Cornas. He decided some years ago to try and make his
wines more approachable when young and his methods, including 100% de-stemming,
have paid off. His wines are like the proverbial “iron fist in a velvet
glove”, silky yet normally drinkable from release and they age well for
10-15 years.
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2001
St Peray Cuvée Boisée
Nice grip. Decent fruit but a little flabby. OK only
2000 St Peray Cuvée Boisée
This lacks some acid and seems a little flat. OK-
2000 St Peray Fleur de Crussol
Very nice “hermitage-like” nose with some nice vanilla from the oak.
Nice complexity but lacks a little zip. OK+
2001 St Peray Fleur de Crussol
Much better here. Nice grip. The structure stands up the the oak and the whole
gives a nice complexity of peachy/apricot flavors. Good+
2002 St Peray Fleur de Crussol
Malo not finished. Hard to tell, but the stuffing is there for a good wine
2000 Cornas Vieilles Vignes
Sweet blackberry fruit, with great depth. Dusty tannins. This is not a huge blockbuster
but for drinking over the next 5 years it will be great. You’ll find a
lot of this in MY cellar. Very Good++
2000 Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines
Bottled 10 days ago. This is much bigger. A massive wine with some vanilla coffee
and chocolate. Brooding dark black fruits. Very long. Outstanding+
2001 Cornas Vielles Vignes
A little reticent on the nose, but pure Cornas flavors jump out in the mouth.
Wonderful balance. Black currents. Outstanding
2001 Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines
Massive wine. This explodes with huge briary black fruits. Wow. Outstanding+
2002 Cornas Vieilles Vignes
He says many lost up to half of their crop, but he loves the vintage. Malo just
finished. Still a little raw, but has very good material here. Not at all light.
Should be Very Good- at least.
2000 Cornas Les Vieilles Fontaines
He may not bottle this wine. He will wait to see how happy he is with the VV
first. If he doesn’t think it’s up to his quality he will add this
wine to the VV blend. Much like the 1999, with lots of high notes and more reddish
fruits. Nice grip. Long. Very Good. |
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Jean-Michel
Gerin – Ampuis
Gerin is not only very good friends with Daniel Coulon in Chateuneuf du Pape,
he is very much like Daniel in the vineyards, where both men seem to work more
than anybody else. The use of natural products, the cutting of supplemental roots,
the clearing of the leaf canopy, a green harvest where needed. A lot of vignerons
talk of these things, but these two guys are passionate about it. I’ve
tasted a lot of Côte-Rôties and right now Gerin is at the top of
the class.
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2002
Condrieu
Malo not finished here. Great stuffing. Loads of ripe fruit with good peach
and tropical flavors. Very Good at least.
2002 Côte-Rôtie Champin le Seigneur
He made a massive green harvest in July for all of his parcels, removing leaves
and supplemental grapes, allowing for those that remained to get more of the
nutrients.
Lots of spice in the nose. A little lighter than normal but will provide very
good short-term drinking. Nice blueberry notes and some blackberry jam. Very
Good
2002 Côte-Rôtie Les Grands Places
The vendange was set for the end of September, but when the grapes reached
their phenolic ripeness on the 13th of September, Jean-Michel started his harvest.
He was able to avoid the rot that others had in this way. The down side is
the alcoholic ripeness was not finished and he had to chapatilize his wines.
The upside is that the wines are well-balanced without a hint of green and
will be very pleasurable.
Chocolate on the nose. In the mouth dark wild blackberry and blueberry notes
with cassis. Very nice finish. Very Good at least
2002 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
A little reduction here, but great stuffing. I normally like the Grands Places
better, but in this vintage the savageness of the La Landonne seems to take
it up a notch. Very Good+
2001 Côte-Rôtie Champin Le Seigneur
Sweet and complex wild berry fruit. Spice and some floral aspects from the
Viogner (10%) make this very intriguing. Good grip and a nice finish. Very
Good++
2001 Côte-Rôtie Les Grands Places
Brooding massive wine. Black color with blackberry jam notes. Syrah at it’s
finest. Outstanding
2001 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
This seems more like Cornas than Côte-Rôtie. It has wonderful syrah
richness and is very deep, but lacks the floral and elegance of the Grands
Places. Outstanding-
2000 Côte-Rôtie Champin le Seigneur
Smoky, perfumed nose. Again, the viogner is evident in the floral nose. Nice
dark fruits and sweet finish. Very Good++ at least
2000 Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
Unlike the 2001, this has loads of perfume, spice, elegance. But it’s
very powerful at the same time. Dusty tannins. Explosive wine. Outstanding+
2000 Côte-Rôtie Les Grands Places
This is a beautiful wine. Power and elegance together. Rich deep notes of black
fruits. This fairly cries out for a rack of lamb. Outstanding++
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