Rhone Warfare

It was a simple Tuesday night here in Walla Walla when a few wine friends and myself got together to have a post-harvest Rhone wine tasting. There were five wines in total and we got a pretty good representation of what the Rhone has to offer. As many of you know the Rhone has been gaining popularity in most wine circles and among many of us in the industry it has taken over Bordeaux and Burgundy as France’s most kick ass wine region, exhibiting wines of true terroir and showing true expression of the character of the land.

The Rhone Valley, located in south-eastern France, is home to over a dozen approved varietals within the A.O.C (appellation d’origine controlee). The most prominent of these being Syrah in the northern Rhone and Grenache and Mourvedre in the southern half of the Rhone. Other varietals include Cinsaut, Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Marsanne and Counoise. The wines we sampled tonight were a good mix of what both the northern and southern Rhone appellations had to offer. Now let’s get to the wines, shall we. I did go through and rate my favorite to least favorite but this tasting didn’t have a stand out turd just wines that were not showing as well as the others.

5. Coming in last place was the wine that I brought, the 2007 Domaine du Grand Montmirail (Vacqueyras). This wine didn’t have the rustic qualities that I usually enjoy from a Vacqueyras, I picked up hints of buttered blueberry pancakes and a slight touch of nutmeg.

4. Number 4 was a wine that I think changed in the glass the most over the course of the night. 2007 Chateau Simian (Cotes du Rhone). When I first stuck my nose in it I wanted to take it out immediately, but after letting it settle and breath for a few minutes I started to get marionberry, wet stones and a very subtle hint of tomato.

3. Number 3 this was the obvious middle of the road in this tasting. the 2006 Coudoulet de Beaucastel (Cotes du Rhone) had one of the most pleasant aromas of the evening of dried chocolate powder, blackberry and teddy grahams, yes I just said teddy grahams. However, once I tasted it kind of let me down, the flavors were very fleeting almost as if they couldn’t wait to get away from me.

2. This is where things got complicated for me, number 2 the 2006 Gilles Robin Andre Pealat (Saint Joseph) went back and fourth as my number one for a while. This wine I thought was the most old-world-like with a great amount of funk and maybe slightly bretty. I got aromas of peppered bacon, lavender, stewed tomatoes and allspice. My other tasters did not enjoy this wine as much with the aroma of wet dog seemingly taking hold of everybody but me.

1. Number one was everybody’s favorite for the evening; the 2007 Stephane Vedau J Boutin “Bonnevaux” (Cote-Rotie). This wine gave me a real creamy characteristic almost like strawberry ice cream. It almost rendered me speachless as I had a difficult time categorizing the multitude of flavors that were having their way with my taste buds for the rest of the evening.

Not a bad way to celebrate the end of the 2010 harvest.

The Search for the World’s Best White Wine

When one becomes involved in a debate over the world’s greatest wine (as I often do), the perennial contenders tend to have a large amount of anthocyanins. Maybe DRC’s aptly named Romanee-Conti really is heaven on earth, but then again maybe Chateau Ausone is better than heaven, something yet unknown to our imaginations, like a floating mountain range on a far away moon. Too often the world’s great white wines are overshadowed by their more colorful cousins.

In search of the world’s greatest white wine, we set out to play chess. Accompanying our battles was a bottle of 2007 Guigal Condrieu. As far as regions go, Condrieu is certainly on the pricey side of white wine; these Northern Rhone Viogniers are as delicious as they are rare, and Guigal has been known to make some tasty juice from the area (see the La La La’s). This wine was thoroughly enjoyed by all, and it’s the perfect chess pairing wine — the thinking man’s Viognier. All this talk made me wonder though, what is the world’s best white wine?

A quick glance at the Wine Spectator’s top 100 shows an unsurprising trend: in 2009, nine of the top ten wines were reds. Coming in ninth, however, is none other than a Russian River Valley Sauvignon Blanc from Merry Edwards. Actually the top scoring white wine of the year indeed hails from the Northern Rhone, only slightly south and across the river from Condrieu in Hermitage (where the white grapes are Marsanne and Roussanne).

Price equals quality in many industries, but wine is tricky. Perhaps Haut Brion Blanc should be in the mix; with a retail price of about $650 it likely is pretty stellar, or at least it had better be. Chardonnays from Montrachet can also fetch a pretty penny, upwards of $400. Trockenbeerenausleses can easily cost $200 for 375 ml – that’s over $15 per ounce, but honestly, I’d pay $15 for an ounce of TBA. Chateau d’Yquem is rumored to be decent, too.

Unfortunately the blog’s budget is not yet sufficient to blind test the aforementioned wines to determine once and for all what the world’s best white wine is. Prior to Nathaniel penetrating my defenses and taking out my knight with a lowly pawn, the Guigal Condrieu was pretty killer. I now know what Viognier is capable of, and I am dying to find an equally compelling domestic version. This might be the best Viognier in the world, but is this the best white wine in the world? On this particular night, it is.

Hermitage and Reese’s: a match made in heaven?

As Three Dog Night proclaimed in 1969, one is the loneliest number. That is the number of wines which were consumed during tonight’s Cork Dorks United. Perhaps this demonstrates, if nothing else, the disrespect for which winos hold for drinking red wine with chocolate. It might be the saddest experience that you’ll ever know, but that didn’t keep me from trying to make it work. I even flew a bottle of wine from Lausanne, Switzerland to Walla Walla for tonight’s tasting. Too bad only Mike and I were able to taste it.

1st Place: 2001 Cave de Tain Hermitage

Hermitage and fire, two of the finer things in life

I wasn’t expecting greatness out of this wine, and it didn’t deliver greatness. After a couple hours the nose started to take on some nice dark fruit and pepper aromas, but this might be due to the fact that I added some jelly and a spice mix to my glass. The wine is just so much different than I’m used to. My mind is saying yes, but my palate is saying no. It’s thin, much more acidic than any Syrah to be found in this neck of the woods, and it’s also somewhat bitter. The Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups I chose to pair with the wine didn’t do much good, although they didn’t do much harm either.

Last Place: 2001 Cave de Tain Hermitage

Since Mike is my house mate he had no choice but to show up for Cork Dorks, and after we tried the wine we both agreed it begged for some real food. With some tortellini and tomato-garlic-onion sauce the wine improved greatly. This experience helps confirm that Port (and some California Zinfandels, which might as well be Port) is probably the only good wine and chocolate pairing. I was hoping that a bevy of different wine and chocolate pairings would help to further the case (or shoot it down), but the trial shall live on.

In case anyone was wondering, Hermitage is an appellation of France’s Northern Rhone Valley. The only red grape permitted is Syrah. White Hermitage is Marsanne and Rousanne. The appellation is a single south-facing hillside overlooking the Rhone River and the town of Tain l’Hermitage. There are about 345 acres of grapes planted – thus one reason these wines can be quite pricey. For comparison, there are about 43,000 acres planted in Napa Valley.

Despite a weak showing, Cork Dorks United lives on. The next meeting will be on March 14 and feature a collection of Southern Hemisphere reds. Perhaps we will have two wines to taste in this one, but two can be as bad as one. It’s the loneliest number since the number one.

Terroirists at Large: forgive my horrible language or don’t yer call