WTN: N. and S. Rhones in midtown

8 good geeks gathered gleefully Sunday night at Fabio Piccolo Fiore in midtown east for an assortment of Rhones, South and North. Restaurant did a nice job overall, I enjoyed my burrata, a little tasting of pastas (lobster ravioli, pappadelle with porcini, and gnocchi in pasta), and rack of lamb (or lack of ram for Ian). Everyone was quite generous with wines:

1997 Chave Hermitage Blanc
Honied and a little oily, crisp, fresh,  good tropical and pit fruits, very good length. A-

First red flight
1988 Brunel "Les Cailloux" Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Sweet red fruit, a bit of mushroom, lighter bodied, maybe just a bit tired, I liked a tad better a couple years ago, but overall holding on well, in a slightly less burly style. B+/B

1995 Beaucastel Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Showing fairly young, big dark fruits, light tannins. ok acidity. Good length, depth, develops in glass a lot. I enjoy this and think it has a long future. A-

1995 Pegau "Cuvee Reserve" Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Big (BIG) sweet red fruits, iodine, a little pepper. Approaches jammy at times. Some others liked more than I. B
 
2001 Charvin Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Raspberries, kirsch, a bit of garrigue. Some animal and earth notes with time. Good, in a style that straddles both modern and traditional. B/B+

2001 Sabon "Cuvee Prestige" Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Sweet fruit, jammy, a bit hot. There's a sweaty note I don't like, though others don't notice. My least favorite of the night. C+

2001 Charbonniere "Les Hautes Brusquieres Cuvee Speciale" Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Sweet canned red fruits, a little pepper, inoffensive. B-

Third red flight
1996 Chapoutier Cornas
I'm not a huge Chapoutier fan, but like the nose on this- nice herbs and spices over red fruit. On the palate it's a bit flat, however. B/B-

1996 Allemand "Reynard" Cornas
Quite funky nose. Dried cow patties on a wood fire, maybe some cured meat (Jeff says mortadella, I'm thinking more smoked ham), but conventionally tasty on palate. Strange but good. A-/B+

1998 Verset Cornas
Lively nose with flowers, olives, bacon fat and red fruits. On the palate the fruit profile is darker, but great (balanced) acidity enlivens the whole package. Tannins are mostly integrated,but this could age a long time more on these acids. Just a lovely bottle, my WOTN. A

1999 Voge Cornas Vielles Vignes
A little oak at first, young, ripe red cherry and raspberry fruit with herbs and earth. Quite good. A-

Red flight four

1998 Ch. Saint Cosme Cote Rotie
Blackberries and blueberries, nice herbs and meat a bit round for my taste, could use a little more acidity, comes across with a slightly soupy feel. Not bad overall, but outclassed by a couple of flightmates and predeccessors. B

1986 Chave Hermitage Rouge
At first I got a funny note of roasted peanuts (?!), but that blew off. Completely clear at the edges. A nice old dowager, but I think maybe just a few years past its prime. Still, even if not top Chave, it still shows its pedigree, with game meats, earth, and pepper intertwining with the fruit. A tad tired, but still in contention. B+/A-

1998 Gerin "Les Grandes Places" Cote Rotie
Dark berry fruit with a little mocha and vanilla, rather full bodied, tasty but less identifiably Rhone than the other wines tonight. B

1998 Jamet Cote Rotie
This rivalled the Verset for my WOTN. Lovely, muscular and young. A little hint of animal fur - maybe a touch of brett, but at my "adds spice" level, not intrusive at all. There's leather, coffee, and roasted gamebird notes, a nice balance of acidity and tannins, miles to go but quite charming now. A/A-

Sundays there are only hourly trains, so I leapt up to make the 9:20. Patrick offered up the 2003 Coutet, I took a small sip, then carefully stowed the glass with the remainder of the pour in my case. I'm pretty sure I was only person sipping Sauternes on the Metro-North.Pears, honey, and creme brulee. Quite round, the hot vintage shows. Tasty, but I think I'll leave my few bottles for a few years to see if it develops more complexity (though with the lower acidity I don't think this is a real long-term cellar candidate). B+

Really quite a fun night. Several wines I loved, and only the Sabon wouldn't pass the "I wouldn't mind on my dinner table" test. Thanks to Patrick for organizing, Ramon for initial discovery of restaurant, and everyone for their vinuous contributions and their easy conversation. Quite a variety of palates at the table, which to me makes it more fun than universal agreement.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C mediocre. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

Sounds like a lovely range of wines!

Dumb question whose answer is somewhat available in your list:

I have fallen in love with Saint Joseph-even young (Faury, Gonon, Chante Perdrix) and also some Cote Rotie. Do these wines go through a difficult "closed" phase like Burgundy? Is ten years the recommended drinking point?

I have fallen in love with Saint Joseph-even young (Faury, Gonon, Chante Perdrix) and also some Cote Rotie. Do these wines go through a difficult "closed" phase like Burgundy? Is ten years the recommended drinking point?

Which wines are you talking about?

Conventional wisdom would place St Joseph as earlier drinking than Cote Rotie, Cornas, or Hermitage. There is still quite a bit of variation among these three appellations, not the least of which is vintage, producer, and cuvee. Still, Hermitage might be generally considered the longest lived of the wines. But then there are always (tons of) exceptions.

Nothing is as difficult as Burgundy.

Dale, I'd guess the '01 Charvin and '01 Charbonnieres are sleeping dogs just now, and revisited in 7-10 more years, ought to be pretty impressive wines. (I had '01 Charvin a couple years ago, first taste of it for me, and man, I was truly impressed by it's depth, its subtlety, and its exceptional balance.) That's my story, and I'm stickin to it...

Dumb question whose answer is somewhat available in your list:

I have fallen in love with Saint Joseph-even young (Faury, Gonon, Chante Perdrix) and also some Cote Rotie. Do these wines go through a difficult "closed" phase like Burgundy? Is ten years the recommended drinking point?

Brian,

syrah tends to be more accessible and open than other grapes, not shutting down to the point Burgundy or say, chenin blanc or white Rhones can become soon after their initial freshness passes. That being said, however, I find St joseph is pleasant with about 8-10 years on it, Cote Rotie, depending on the producer and vintage, hits my sweet spot from 8-12 years. My preference for these wines is for them to lose their initial fruitiness but having shed substantial tannins and for secondary characteristics to be in evidence. Hope this helps.

Agree that Rhone syrah doesn't seem to usually totally shut down.

I forgot the mention the highlight of the evening, watching the real Jay Miller's face as he tasted the CdPs (other than the Beaucastel). Like a Francis Bacon painting.

Like a Magritte painting!

I forgot the mention the highlight of the evening, watching the real Jay Miller's face as he tasted the CdPs (other than the Beaucastel). Like a Francis Bacon painting.

What's worse; Jay tasting CdP or Keith Levenberg tasting CdP?

Interesting. I am holding a few of these in my cellar and it sounds about time that I should be taking a look.

The Chave white 97 seems out of the dumb phases which often dog white Hermiatge.

The Allemand sounds as if it needs to be drunk.

The Beaucastel 95, which was as tight as a drum a couple of years ago, sounds as if it should give real pleasure in my lifetime.

And my nice little stock of Jamet 98 sounds an exciting prospect.

Dale, I'd guess the '01 Charvin and '01 Charbonnieres are sleeping dogs just now, and revisited in 7-10 more years, ought to be pretty impressive wines. (I had '01 Charvin a couple years ago, first taste of it for me, and man, I was truly impressed by it's depth, its subtlety, and its exceptional balance.) That's my story, and I'm stickin to it...

The '01 Charvin was terrific and stood out during the tasting , even when the '01 Cdp flight was overshadowed by the very good '95 flight, imho. I don't have my notes with me from the tasting, but I remember that there were a few votes for the '01 Charvin in the top 3 WOTN. It was my #3, as I recall.

Thanks for the excellent notes Dale.

Ramon