(Originally published February 2018)
All wines below are red unless otherwise indicated.
All wines below are red unless otherwise indicated.
2015 and 2016 both are looking like spectacular vintages with more power to the 2015s, a little more freshness to the 2016s, to make a gross generalization; and the 2014s from the proper addresses are not to be snubbed, either. But as always, be aware that your producer is your best guide.
Domaine Les 4 VENTS/Lucie FOUREL, Nancy CELLIER
2015 Crozes-Hermitage
This is an innocuous, rather modern-style, wine with violet aromas and flavors, some dark fruit and round tannins, but there’s no real character here. A Côtes-du-Rhône Syrah, but nothing more. Certified organic. Lot L4V15. 13% stated alcohol. 86/B-
Franck BALTHAZAR
2015 Cornas Chaillot
Balthazar's Chaillot is deep and intense with dense dark fruits and a smooth, somewhat creamy texture. There are tannins, but they are ripe and round. The wine can be drunk now, but ideally, I’d give it 10-12 years in the cellar. 13% stated alcohol. 92(+)/A
Domaine BELLE
2015 Crozes-Hermitage Rouge Carmin
This wine is concentrated Syrah with red and dark fruits, moderate acidity, and a velvet texture. It’s good for enjoyable drinking now and can still get better with a few years’ cellaring. Lot 15202. 13.5% stated alcohol. 88/B+
Bernard BURGAUD
2014 Côte-Rôtie
This wine is so open and enjoyable right now that it’s difficult to believe that it can get any better — but time will tell. The wine is medium-light in weight with fresh, precise, ebullient red cherry and raspberry fruit and well-rounded tannins. 12.5% stated alcohol. Lot L016. 92(+)/A
Domaine A. CLAPE
2014 Cornas Renaissance
Usually I find Clape’s Renaissance to be a top-tier Cornas, even though it is Clape’s second wine. But this one is a puzzler, just rather, even after being left out for a few days, with dark fruit. It isn’t the tannins, which aren’t really bothersome, but something else. There is some dark fruit here in a medium-full body with a smooth texture, but it’s all very indistinct. 13% stated alcohol. 87(+?)/B-
Domaine Christophe CURTAT
I think there’s no question now that Curtat is the brightest rising star in the Northern Rhône -- which is saying a lot.
2016 Ardèche Syrah
This wine is just so pure, precise, and chiseled with its stony, steely texture and abundant blue fruits. The whole is bound together by an elegant and fresh enlivening acidity. Prepare yourself for a wine that is sheer delight as well as being highly impressive from the standpoint of purity and what was achieved here from the vines and terroir. Lot L01. 13% stated alcohol. 91/A+
2015 Saint-Joseph Nomade
Curtat’s red Saint-Joseph is still quite tannic, and so not easy to judge at this stage. The wine is packed with Syrah dark fruits and shows balance and plenty of concentration, but I think it’s going to take 7-8 years, perhaps more, for this wine to become fully drinkable. 13.5% stated alcohol. 90+/A-
Emmanuel DARNAUD
Darnaud for years has been an outstanding producer. He is also the son-in-law of the great Hermitage producer Bernard Faurie and apparently will take over that operation upon Faurie’s retirement. Unfortunately, new oak seems to beginning to fascinate him -- to the detriment of the wines, in my opinion.
2016 Crozes-Hermitage Mise en Bouche
This is the early-drinking cuvée from Darnaud — vines are less than 25 years-old. The wine is deep and shows very dense, still largely undeveloped, dense dark fruits and plenty of concentration. There’s also good acidity and freshness here. I suspect another year or two in bottle will reveal an even better wine. No new wood here, but there are barrels that are only a year or two old, which for Syrah can still give off oak aromas and flavors, as this wine demonstrates. Lot L 01. 13% stated alcohol. 87(+?)/B
2015 Crozes-Hermiage Au Fil du Temps
Here the wine is aged half in new oak barriques and half in demi-muids that previously have been used. The result is a wine that I initially find virtually undrinkable because of hte strong toast notes in both nose and mouth. But the fruit here is quite splendid (vines between 25 and 60 years-old), and sitting out overnight, the wine does become better with dark fruit of good intensity and depth and the toastiness receding some. Possibly, after 7-10 years in the cellar this wine will have come together, but it is a gamble, especially at the elevated price. Lot L 01. 13% stated alcohol. 86(+?)/B-
Domaine Éric et Joël DURAND/gaec LAUTERET
2016 Ardèche Syrah
Don’t look at this wine as a Cornas or Saint-Joseph substitute. It is light and easy wine with violets and dark fruits in a medium-light body. It’s to be drunk young and, to my palate, cool, like a Beaujolais or Dolcetto. It may not be a wine of great complexity or seriousness, but it is most attractive for informal meals. Lot S161T. 13% stated alcohol. 87/A
2014 Saint-Joseph Les Coteaux
This is a more serious wine than the Ardèche reviewed above, and although meant for different occasions, it really is not much better in a global scheme of things. The wine has violet and dark plum aromas and flavors in a medium-weight body with a smooth texture. It’s a good wine, but perhaps more Syrah than Saint-Joseph. 13% stated alcohol. 88/B
2015 Saint-Joseph Les Coteaux
The brothers are seriously getting their act together with this wine. It is tight and strict with deep dark fruits and good minerality and stoniness — an ultra-classic Saint-Joseph of the area around Tournon. Lithe yet powerful. You can drink it now if you have a tolerance for acidity and tannin (as I do), otherwise plan on 5-10 years’ cellaring. 14% stated alcohol. 91/A
2015 Cornas Prémices
This wine is intended to be Durand’s early-drinking (of three) Cornas, but in this vintage, at least, the wine is sufficiently tannic that I think (a) some patience is required and (b) the wine will go a lot longer than the 6-10-year cellaring period recommended by the domaine on the internet. The wine is dense and dark with concentrated dark berry fruits and a smooth texture but with plenty of tannin showing — it is model Cornas. Unless you have a very high tolerance for tannin, in which case the fruit will allow you to drink the wine now, I think you’re looking to 8-10 years’ cellaring until this wine starts to drink really well. But impressive it is. 13.5% stated alcohol. 92/A