jamie goode's wine blog: A lovely Cote Rotie, and a delicious Cotes du Rhone

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

A lovely Cote Rotie, and a delicious Cotes du Rhone

Nice wine tonight - a cask sample of one of Gilles Barge's Cote Roties. It's a special cuvee made from an abandoned, steeply sloping site replanted in 2000, and this was one of the samples bottled for Bibendum's recent en primeur tasting. Now samples like this should be tasted soon after bottling, and this was sent to me by Bibendum just after the event but then got lost in transit for a couple of weeks, only arriving today. It's still tasting fantastic, though, with a distinctly meaty, peppery edge and some Burgundian elegance. Bibendum are offering this at £240 per case of 12 in bond.

Domaine Gilles Barge Côte-Rôtie Le Combard 2007 Northern Rhône, France (cask sample)
Just delicious. Fresh, bright nose of meaty, peppery raspberry and just-ripe cherry fruit with lovely floral aromatics. The palate is expressive and elegant, with a meaty, subtly animally edge to the beautifully textured sweet and sour fruit, combining pure, sweet cherries with tart acidity and peppery freshness. It’s complex, brooding and quite profound: the antithesis of clumsy, dark, extracted, oaky Syrah. 92–94/100

More affordable, and almost as good is this robust, sweetly fruited Cotes du Rhone in the same Rhone 2007 offer. Apparently 2007 was an awesome vintage in the Southern Rhone - better than in the North.

Domaine Grand Veneur Les Champauvins 2007 Côtes du Rhône Villages, France (cask sample)
Apparently, Robert Parker gave this 91/100, which is a high score for a relatively affordable wine. I can understand why: it’s a deliciously rich, dense Southern Rhône red with concentrated, sweet spicy raspberry liqueur fruit, backed up by fresh acidity and a bit of earthy structure. It’s smooth and delicious, with a hint of ginger adding aromatic interest. Much better than most Châteauneuf-du-Papes, with real richness and intensity. 90–92/100 (£55 in bond for 12 bottles in www.bibendum-wine.co.uk’s recent en primeur offer).

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3 Comments:

At 11:16 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jamie says 'Just delicious...'
A cask sample, punted on behalf of Bide-a-wee, ONLY £240 per 12, god knows what went in the 12 bottles.
Hooray for blogs!
Ps 'Nobody tells me what to write!'

 
At 11:37 PM, Blogger Jamie said...

Anon, you are being uncharitable. Gilles Barge is a serious producer. I've tasted his wines after bottling numerous times and have no worries that he'd bottle cask samples that are representative of the final blend. I'm doing hyim no favours reporting on such an old sample - that it stands up so well is testimony to the quality of the original wine. I'm amazed that you'd suspect that I have a reason for plugging this wine other than the fact that it's really good. Still, thank you for taking the trouble to comment.

 
At 10:12 AM, Anonymous Dan Coward said...

All I can say is thank goodness the wines turned up in the end. What an epic month-long journey! Interesting that they were still in good enough nick to taste.

Had my first (recently delivered) bottle of the 2006 Grand Veneur Champauvins last night and it was looking good. Not quite up to the 2007 level but still a great value choice.

 

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