The sunshine and warmth still holds out as I travel north,
and its approaching mid October. The
2012 crop is all in, from Hermitage to Cote Rotie, and successfully bubbling
away in the cellars. After the stress
and hard work growers experienced during the summer it is fair to say they are
pleased as punch with results that, a few months prior, they did not think
possible. It should be a very good
vintage, though at this stage it seems the south has the edge over the north. However there is a long way to go, a lot now
depends on fermentations and elevages.
Back again to 2011.
My first tasting in the North was with the garrulous and affable Mathieu
Barret of Domaine du Coulet. Cornas for
breakfast might not be everyone’s cup of tea however Mathieu’s increasingly
refined style made tasting young Cornas from barrel at 9.00 in the morning an
absolute breeze. It was a sheer pleasure
to sample these wonderfully fine, precise and intense wines, they must be
pretty unique in the appellation. He is a seriously talented and dynamic
winemaker, his 2011s are irresistible.
Meandering further north to Tournon and Tain L’Hermitage
chez Faurie, Domaine du Colombier, Pochon and Delas. The wines here were exquisite, fruit
sweetness, power but with the finesse and smoothness that seem to characterise
this vintage. Hermitage seems an
excellent match for 2011.
There are some very smooth, attractive Cote Roties in
2011. Clusel Roch’s for me were the pick
of a good solid bunch. One perhaps expects rather less of St Joseph, being a
large and highly variable appellation in all but the most consistent of years, though
it must be said when you hit on one from a good producer its quality, value and
sheer drinkability is second to none. I found
the 2011 St Joseph reds at Perret and Villard highly successful, the latter
producer has refined his red winemaking style over the last three years, his ‘11s
seem to be the culmination of these efforts – thoroughly moreish, seductive Syrahs
that mix ripeness, elegance and a Rhone typicity. They bear little resemblance to the bigger
versions of his early years.
Many of these 2011 Northern Rhone reds gave me immense
pleasure, I found them a notch above the Southern Rhone wines and
considerably more consistent. It was
potentially a large crop here, as with their cousins further south, so limiting
yields was important but unlike Chateauneuf and the Southern villages, alcohol levels
were restrained, averaging 13 degrees natural.
The resultant wines offer ripe, fresh flavours, round textures and
tremendous overall balance. They will be very enjoyable in their youth over
3-5 years after bottling, though i suspect the top wines will still be drinking
well from 7-10 years after, best normally to avoid the 4-7 year hole after
bottling when some vintages can go into a closed phase. Producers compare 2011 to 2004 (a vintage
drinking exceptionally well now) or 2006 but with a little less structure and
acidity than the latter. Other Northern Rhone vintages
drinking well now are 2008, 2001 and 2000.
In Hermitage they recommend the 2006s already, whereas in Cote Rotie
they are a little more tentative about the readiness of this very fine
vintage.
