TN: Condrieu Pinot Pegau Ridge Gigondas Auslese Lunch

Notes from a blind tasting lunch:

2016 Xavier Gerard Condrieu Côte Chatillon – mid amber colour, nose akin to a Vouvray, very slight RS, smooth and with good length. Quite nice.

2016 Domaine Rolet Trousseau Arbois - starter wine I had thrown in. Unusual light red colour akin to an old tawny Port, some nice rd fruit in the nose, and a balanced, smooth medium long finish.

2015 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir The Sum – medium colour, excellent nose of berry fruit and wood hints, smooth on palate and a tasty, crisp long peppery finish. Impressive showing. New French oak is used.

2008 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée – good colour, a slight initial petillance, something in the nose that reminded me of Dr Pepper(!), and a very smooth long finish.

2020 Natte Valleij Cinsault Darling – colour depth of a pinot but with a non-pinot funkiness in the nose and some cherry fruit, ending medium long. Interesting. 'Please pass the wine, Darling!'

1995 Ridge Geyserville – fairly dark, with a sweet nose of dark fruit with a slight cola hint, slight RS at the end and a heavier impression than the previous wines (my wine)

2001 Domaine La Bouïssiere Gigondas La Font de Tonin – dark wine, a ‘European’ nose that included smoked meat and mint elements and a long smooth finish. Time to get around to my 1998, I think.

1996 Schwaab-Kiebel Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese – from my cellar, a late harvest Moel in fine shape, smooth and long with typical varietal nose – worked well with cheese.

Next month, a vertical Beaucastel lunch.

[David M. Bueker]

I would bet a decent amount of money on a lab test to show there was not perceptible residual sugar in that Geyserville.

Quite likely not, but nonetheless it exhibited a sweetness at the end that aped RS.

[Jenise]

Quite likely not, but nonetheless it exhibited a sweetness at the end that aped RS.

The sweetness was, for my tastes, just that which comes with very well-aged American wines. But it certainly made a larger impression immediately following Bob A's delightfully taut cinsault.

[Jenise]

When am I going to learn not to write tasting notes live on line? Got halfway or better through commenting on this, and BLIP I hit something wrong with my little finger and away it went, lost forever.

More soon.

It was an interesting, no theme, blind tasting. Most agreed the first wine was a chenin blanc. Not even close, it was the 2016 Xavier Gerard Condrieu Côte Chatillon. We don't often have Condrieu - the whole region really doesn't get a lot of love or media hype - but I really loved this, one of the favorites of the day. Classy, rich, but balanced with interesting flavours. I forgot viognier can taste like this!

The 2016 Domaine Rolet Trousseau Arbois and 2020 Natte Valleij Cinsault Darling should have been gone side by side. Both were interesting, acid driven wines, relatively light in colour and medium bodied in flavour. A bit more tannins in the Trousseau, but someone similar in their construction.

The 2015 Zena Crown Vineyard Pinot Noir The Sum got a lot of love around the table. I'm a sucker for many Oregon pinots, and I certainly enjoyed it too, as it did show some special flavours, depth and balance. The 2008 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée was its normal feral, yummy self. The 1995 Ridge Geyserville was a conundrum at the table - we were all over the map, but when the Ridge was revealed it made sense. The 2001 Domaine La Bouïssiere Gigondas La Font de Tonin (my wine) was very smooth and well integrated, but I think on its way downhill from here.

The 1996 Schwaab-Kiebel Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Auslese was perfect with the cheese course. Even better was a small glass of a previously opened 1963 port (Fonseca?). Both were very tasty.

[Jenise]

The Condrieu really threw me. I was with everyone else thinking chenin, and I don't even know how to relate to a Condrieu like that. The deep color looking so much older than it is and the oxidation really threw me. It was one of those experiences where I flipped back and forth between love and hate--I have a feeling that if I were to spend a whole evening with a bottle like that I'd end up a convert. But I might go down kicking and screaming.

Bill Trousseau had me guessing Beaujolais at first. The only descriptor I wrote down, besides noting the light body, was 'geranium leaf'. I liked it.

The Zena was my wine and as John noted, a real traffic stopper: smell/taste/WHOA! Instant and unanimous deep like all around with Alvin jumping on his phone to try to acquire some. Though it was mine, I was not previously familiar. I bought it on a lark one day while prancing around on Winebid looking to expand my OR pinot experience so actually looking up previously unfamiliar names. Whatever convinced me to buy it I've forgotten, as I've owned it for about two years. So I had no idea that I was about to taste the most remarkable OR pinot I've ever had. Yeah, it was that good. The winery consists of 115 acres from which they make six pinots, each specific to a block or set of blocks contained within the acreage. It is now owned by Jackson Family, the wines retail for $80-120, and this one was 80% whole cluster on 90% new French Oak. Yet at least at this point it's not an oaky wine, it's just unusually deep and complex. The only other TN on this site for a Zena was posted by JC many years ago.

I was disappointed in the '08 Pegau, which was also my wine. Though there were no off flavors, it was slightly petillant. Weird.

Bob A's Cinsault was a fun diversion. I had guessed pinotage but never considered the possibility of a stand-alone cinsault. I've had a few from Washington state, which were fleshier. Not something one runs into often!

I loved Bill's Geyserville. Interesting to think back about a year to a '92 I brought to lunch, which showed much younger than this '95. And John's Gigondas was excellent.

So was the only medium yellow, bright and youthful Auslese. I would not have guessed its age.