Rhône Valley Vineyards

Domaine Auguste Clape

Cornas Syrah 2005

Shay A
9.4

My contribution to a large Rhône dinner. Standouts were ‘07 Chapoutier Le Meal Blanc, ‘89 and ‘90 Jaboulet La Chappelle, ‘11 Guigal La Mouline.

An over-generalization, but what I love about Cornas is the rusticity and sometimes feral nature of the wines (which I don’t find in Hermitage or CR) and this ‘05 is in that vein. I followed this from pop (after all, we are at the almost 20yr mark) and over the course of three hours.

Interplay of red and black berry fruits, black pepper, slightly herbal (maybe closer to potpurri floral) aromatically. Bright and nimble on the palate, nothing about this is ripe or soft. Energetic acidity all the way through surrounded by notes of iron (sanguine-like) and rocky minerality. Crunchy red and black fruits (whole-cluster?), hint of gaminess but not in the meaty-style I semi-expected. Clean and pure style of Syrah. Big structure at the finish…hard to imagine drinking this 10+yrs ago. Acidity and tannin will carry this a long time, but I think this is peak window for getting depth of fruit and complexity.
— 6 days ago

Jay, James and 21 others liked this
Jay Kline

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Awesome note

E. Guigal

La Mouline Côte-Rôtie Syrah 1989

Pure and resolved. Great fruit- rounded with blood, dried herbs, plum, tangy black cherry. Some stone, saddle leather. Very good. — 6 days ago

David Schachter
with David
Mark, Bob and 10 others liked this

Château Rayas

Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grenache Blend 2008

Cena rayas acker nyc manhatta 3ero wont — 2 days ago

Bob, Jay and 8 others liked this

Château de Trinquevedel

Tavel Grenache Rosé 2022

Deep pink color. Aromas cherry jolly rancher, red candied apple and flint. So good, crisp and cold on a nice day at Carmel-by-the-Sea. — 3 days ago

Tom, Ted and 8 others liked this

E. Guigal

La Landonne Côte-Rotie Syrah 1989

Lovely stuff. Dark leather notes and intense tangy black cherry. Touches off tarry underbrush and meaty intensity. Savory, with a light hit of salinity. Long. — 6 days ago

David Schachter
with David
Mark, Bob and 8 others liked this

Domaine Jamet

Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2012

Great vintage for Jamet showing dark cherry, berry, meat, graphite, olive, savory spice, mineral & violet — 4 days ago

Tom, Shay and 10 others liked this

E. Guigal

Château d'Ampuis Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2019

Blackberry, Prune, rubber. — 5 days ago

Scott@Mister, Bob and 2 others liked this
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

Well hell. Grrr. That roaches my buzz.

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc White Rhone Blend 2020

Shay A
9.3

One of the bottles from my annual WWC hosting. I opened this as a side by side to a 2019 Saxum White as the makeup is fairly similar.

80% roussanne/ remaining a mix of Grenache Blanc, Clairette, piquepoul blanc, picardan and bourboulenc.

Nicely expressive at pop, it then faded and hid in a shell for a few hours before coming back at last glass. At 80% roussanne, I expected a more consistent expressive profile (honeyed tropical fruits, some orange) and for the acid to show a touch, but it was a roller coaster. More melon and light fruits vs bigger/more tropical. Medium bodied but not as rich as expected. It’s clean and shows some floral and mineral/stony nuances, but I’d spend the extra and take the Roussanne VV to get more complexity and flavor.
— 9 days ago

Tom, Daniel and 17 others liked this

Clos des Papes

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 2005

Very lush and punchy. Dark plum and cherry with a hefty dose of alcohol. Rounded and bright. Black cherry and violets. Good — 3 days ago

Jay, Shay and 6 others liked this

E. Guigal

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 1999

Cool and precise. Tobacco, some dried wood, cool plum. Restrained and balanced. Good. — 3 days ago

Rick K
with Rick
Juan, Jay and 10 others liked this