WTN: And now we go old school

David visited this weekend - we drank some outstanding wines over a couple of nights (David already posted about the Meo Cros Parantoux and the ESJ). On Saturday night Zach Ross also came up from the city and we of course drank some old-school Northern Rhônes (which Z and I always geek out over).

• 1991 Domaine de Vallouit Côte-Rôtie Les Roziers - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (11/15/2025)
  Yeah, this is a throwback (as the Vallouit wines always are), very much a 'they don't make em like this any more' experience. So savoury, all blood and iron and olives around a core of gentle red fruit, with time bringing out more floral and lightly meaty flavours. It starts out understated, but the intensity of the flavours keeps building with air over a few hours. The fruit's still fresh and bright, but it plays a background note to all the iron and meaty savouriness, and the whole package is incredibly compelling. Such a great bottle, and everything I love about Côte-Rôtie.
• 1985 Pierre Barge Côte-Rôtie - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie (11/15/2025)
  Côte-Rôtie really doesn't get much better than this for my taste. Like the Vallouit alongside, it's a throwback - totally old school, super classic Côte-Rôtie that's all about savoury iron and meaty and olive-y goodness, with a core of fruit underneath that's still remarkably vibrant and sweet. This isn't just rustic, there's an almost feral aspect here with the intense meatiness and bloody/iron notes - the same character that I love so much in older Verset, and I don't use that comparison lightly here. The palate presence is incredible. So polished, so graceful, remarkably light on its feet but with almost piercing intensity to the fruit and savoury flavours here, and with such persistence.
• 2006 Noël Verset Cornas - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas (11/15/2025)
  So this is the finale, the master signing off. It's a pretty wine, gentler, lighter, and more delicate than earlier vintages of Verset when he had all his vines in Sabarotte/Reynard. I think he was in his mid-80s when he made this wine, without some of his best parcels that he sold or leased a few years before this as they were too steep for him to climb at that age. It's still very Cornas, and very Verset - animale, slightly feral, smoky and ashy and meaty flavours that keep expanding with air around a core of gentle red and dark fruit, though also extremely youthful right now, the flavours much more primary than tertiary. There's a lot of grainy tannin underneath that never really relents with air, and a spine of bright acids that also give it plenty of lift. It gives the sense it's holding more in reserve, and I'm just glad I have a couple more bottles - I probably won't open another for at least ~5 years or so.

[David M. Bueker]

Both of the older Cote Roties were excellent. The feral yet elegant nature of both was striking. The Barge especially moved me with a “single cherry tree amidst a derelict steel mill” image that it conjured in my mind.

That is a lovely trio of wines, Salil. I can see the logic of comparing older Barge wines to Verset, as they also share the ability to be either very on or very off.

What great wines! (And thanks for the heads-up on the Verset... I'll just move them to the back....)

Thanks for notes. Have only had a couple Vallouits, but love Barge.
And of course love Verset but long priced out.