WTN: Sonoma County "Pomerol" and 2002 Cornas

Had dinner with 11 close friends tonight at Seasons in Davis. While not an excitingly innovative menu, I would say they execute their standards extremely well. My New York Strip was tender and perfectly cooked, and I loved the peppery, "fluffy" broccoli and au gratin potatoes!

So...this was a red wine night! We started with a very nice chardonnay off the list. I made a big mistake by bringing the very strange Domaine Peyra Vin de Table de France. This was the pink, cloudy Gamay I tried at Terroir in SF. I found it amazingly refreshing, with tart cranberry flavors, plenty of acidity, and a great mineral backbone. A table full of friends turned thumbs down. Lesson: No strange obscure bizarre wines.

My second wine was the Robert Michel 2002 Cornas that I had enjoyed so much a month ago. This bottle was decanted vigorously at the table. Everyone liked this-it was a very elegant, restrained yet flavorful Syrah, with peppery notes, good earthyness, great acidity, currant fruit and blackberry, but not over the top. Not inexpensive, but again beautiful. I will buy again when budget permits.

Our third wine may fail the QPR test, but it was very, very enjoyable. A Kendall-Jackson Boutique project with a French winemaker (Pierre Seillan), the 2003 Verite Le Desire is a Bordeaux-style blend of Cabernet Franc, Merlot, and Cab Sauvignon (in that order). Their goal was to reflect the character of Pomerol, and to my extremely limited experience, they met that goal. This wine was decanted for about an hour and a half before leaving for dinner, then decanted again at the restaurant. Definitely needed-when opened and a sample glass poured, this wine was as tight and tart and ungiving as I've seen. At dinner, though, the beautiful dark plum, currant and blackberry and raspberry fruit had blossomed. Still pretty primary, of course, but what lovely fruit, yet balanced and lively and in no way jammy! Tannins seemed fully resolved and well-integrated after the decant (about three hours total). Great mouthfeel as well, with the oak handled appopriately. A nice hint of savoryness. This was a beautiful wine. Maybe not quite up to the level of the 1999 Chateau L"Evangile I had last year, but Kendall Jackson can be quite proud.

Nice notes, Brian.

Nice notes, Brian.

Now all I need is a lottey ticket so I can buy another allocation from Verite!

Eek. According to the Evil Magazine, the 2005 Vintage of Chateau L'Evangile Pomerol is $260. I guess Jess Jackson's trop chere Sonoma version isn't that bad after all.

I made a big mistake by bringing the very strange Domaine Peyra Vin de Table de France. This was the pink, cloudy Gamay I tried at Terroir in SF. I found it amazingly refreshing, with tart cranberry flavors, plenty of acidity, and a great mineral backbone. A table full of friends turned thumbs down..

Was at Terroir tonight with a mixture of wine geeks and some "civilian" friends. And, the Peyra was actually the friendliest of the wines for the non-geeks. In comparison, the foul and funky Cousin gamay had people gagging for air..

But, for what it's worth, while I don't quite get Guilhaume's extreme love of Peyra, the wines don't really seem that strange to me. Just straight refreshing fruit juice. My big beef is that I'm not sure how much they speak of cepage, vintage, or even terroir. But, they don't seem very weird to me.

Oh no! I have a bottle of Cousin sitting on my desk right now!. Decant?

I agree with you re: Peyra, though: it doesn't seem offensive in any way. But, I think it does not taste ANYTHING like most California wines, and that's what threw my friends.

I share Guillaume's love for the wine, but then I am really really into "cranberry" and "unami" flavors. It certainly does not tatse like any other Gamay I've had

Oh no! I have a bottle of Cousin sitting on my desk right now!. Decant?

I don't think that will do much to solve the infection problems. At least it didn't help last night. But, depending on your tolerance for these things, it had a very nice texture that I could appreciate.

It certainly does not tatse like any other Gamay I've had

Try the Courtois gamay, I think Terroir carries it. Maybe these wines are just finding their way to the States, but in my experience lots of these "natural" wines start tasting alike, to the point where the method trumps terroir or cepage, IMHO. Which is pretty much the same thing as overdoing new oak, even if it's different people. There's a whole lot of hipster gamay in France that tastes pretty darn similar to me, with the main variation being the degree of infection or instability any one bottle may have.

I don't want to come across as hostile to this "movement" - I like the spirit and I like many of the wines. But, I can tire of the style as well.

Brian, you seem almost fully converted to the dark side.

I love reading your notes, and wish I had a place like the Terroir to try wine closer to my home.

Last night my friend Brad and I were discussing the 2002 wines from N Rhone and he has found some good ones like your Robert Michel, also some at close out sale prices, like the 02 Clape Cornas for example. Worth keeping your eyes open for the sales, anyway.

Thanks for all the notes,
Best,
Marc

Interesting comments, Rahsaan. I'm brand new to this side of wine, so don't have any real depth of experience. "Infection" concerns me. I think I will bring the Cousin to dinner tonight as an experiment, hoping for good bottle variation.

(Mark: not completely converted to the dark side, though. The main course wine is a Sullivan Cab?Merlot blend that is very American (while still lovely)

In defense of Terroir, they also carry a Chiroubles that is about 180 degrees away from the Peyra-black berry fruit and dark savory tannins. I also found a light, plasticork Ardeche Syrah there that while very lean still had pretty good varietal pepper and syrah character. The Poulsards (Tissot) they carry seem very similar to the Puffeney I found at K&L-and I actually liked it better.

I can see where your coming from, though,,,there is definitely a combination of lean-ness (even astringency) and funkyness here. I kinda like that, but understand a need for the other "styles" as well.

"Infection" concerns me. I think I will bring the Cousin to dinner tonight as an experiment

How was it?

a Chiroubles that is about 180 degrees away from the Peyra-black berry fruit and dark savory tannins..

Interesting. All the bottles of Peyra that I have ever tasted have been in the light pink red rose juice mold. Maybe I need to taste more widely.

Sorry to be unclear, Rahsaan. The Chiroubles was not Peyra at all.

Another wine carried by Terroir: 2005 Christophe Pacalet Chiroubles Interesting non-traditional labelling printed on the bottle in big letters "Chiroubles"

We didn't get to the Cousin wine-it was a work night, and my friend had a Syrah from the Central Coast he wanted me to try. One of those big (16.9% abv), super-syrupy, over the top monster Syrahs from the Central Coast (like Garretson, but I didn't note the label). Not my usual style of wine, but it was actually quite nice if you think of it as a desert or brandy! Good big fruit and savory notes and alcohol.

It's good to experiment outside your usual preferences sometimes-even if I wouldn't buy it, it was interesting and even enjoyable!

But, for what it's worth, while I don't quite get Guilhaume's extreme love of Peyra, the wines don't really seem that strange to me. Just straight refreshing fruit juice. My big beef is that I'm not sure how much they speak of cepage, vintage, or even terroir. But, they don't seem very weird to me.

You should have been in Toledo with us, Rahsaan -- Mike Lawton brought two Peyra wines, one of which was funky enough that Joe Perry described it as smelling of human excrement. Maybe that doesn't strike you as weird, but...

Mark Lipton

two Peyra wines, one of which was funky enough that Joe Perry described it as smelling of human excrement. Maybe that doesn't strike you as weird, but...

To me that's just a damaged bottle. I don't know the winemakers personally, but I doubt they would endorse that as their intended effect.

From my experience, there are two kinds of Peyra wines. The dirty sewage excrement damaged ones, and the pink rose fruit juice ones.

Vintage doesn't matter.

But, maybe I need a giant vertical/horizontal to get a better grip on these wines.

Heck...suggest that giant vertical to Guillaume! I would pay for that.