WTN: 1999 N. Rhones at Noreetuh

After years of planning, Jay and Ira put together an event to showcase and complement a couple of ‘99 N. Rhone mags they had. Pretty spectacular way to invite folks, and 9 eager wine geeks gathered at Noreetuh on a rainy night

NV Augustin “Feu” Champagne (2021 dg)
Somewhat bready and a bit oxidative, not so long, I think others appreciated more than I did. B-

Here comes the mochiko fried chicken!

2000 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
I was a little worried this might be getting tired (thought I had finished a few years ago) but this is going strong. Pear, citrus, an appealing light nutty note. Fine bead, elegant. Holds strong throughout night. A-

2007 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne
Delicious and complex, if a tad reticent in comparison to the 2000. But a sniff of Jay’s glass at
end was exotic and open with a ginger snap notel A-

I initially liked 2000 more but 2007 caught up

St Joseph Flight

2007 Gonon Saint-Joseph
Lovely and balanced, fresh and tangy, dark fruit with pepper and a little smoked meat, long and complex. A-

2009 Gonon Saint-Joseph
A bit riper, more amplitude, some preferred to 2007. B+

Taiwanese flat cabbage with bacon and black bean sauce, tuna tartar/poke

2000 Chave Hermitage Blanc
Didn’t love the nose- cider, honey, and a little banana, better on palate, but I’m just not a white Rhone guy. Others liked more B-/C+

Miso ribs

First Cote Rotie Flight
1999 Chapoutier “Mordoree” Cote-Rotie
Well, it was better than I expected. Ripe and anonymous. B-/C+

1999 Rostaing “ Cote Blonde“ Cote-Rotie
Quiet and a bit lifted at service, though a small pour later was meatier and more attractive. Others liked less. B/B+

1998 Gangloff “ La Serene Noire” Cote-Rotie
The Rostaing was a bit lifted, this was more heavily VAed, though some liked more. Still, some CR character shows through. B-

Dry aged steak with bok choy and mushrooms

Second Cote Rotie Flight (now we’re talking)
1999 Jasmin Cote-Rotie
Redder fruits, perfumed,a little bacon. I think I liked more than table. B+

1999 Barge "du Plessy" Cote-Rotie
Big full and powerful, some grippy tannins, black fruits and cocoa. A-/B+

1999 Gallet Cote-Rotie
Lovely, with iodine and mineral notes , long with smoked meats and campfire. A-

Calamansi Duck with duck fat rice

Cornas- the main event
1999 Verset Cornas (mag)
Young but showing great development, black cherries and raspberries, pepper, and an animal note. A-/A

1999 Allemand “Reynard” Cornas (mag)
From magnum this still has a ways to go, but still delicious now. A bit more refined, but still has that wild Cornas streak. I enjoyed now (A-/B+), but in mag this can only get better.

1999 Allemand “Chaillot” Cornas
Wow, in a great place. Black fruit, black olives, black pepper. Some grilled meat, herbs. A pointe. A-/A

Final Flight
1999 Clape Cornas
Clape was the first Cornas I bought, I enjoy, but it’s the Randy Dunn/Henri Gouges of Cornas. Powerful, tannic, stern. B

1999 Sorrel “Greal” Hermitage (corked)

Absolutely fantastic night. Food was delicious and service incredible, generosity of the attendees was off the charts.

Grade disclaimer: I'm a very easy grader, basically A is an excellent wine, B a good wine, C drinkable. Anything below C means I wouldn't drink at a party where it was only choice. Furthermore, I offer no promises of objectivity, accuracy, and certainly not of consistency.

[David M. Bueker]

Love that Cornas flight!

That whole dinner was nuts. Food and hospitality at Noreetuh were as usual amazing, many thanks to Jin again for putting up with us there. The fried chicken was so good, and as usual I ate way too much duck fat fried rice. (I regret nothing.)

I'll post longer notes at some point, but just - wow. Yeah, the Cornas flight was ridiculous, and the two mags just put it over the top. Both wines showed remarkably young out of mag - I had the '99 Verset earlier this year (also at Noreetuh) out of 750 where it was just spectacular. This was more reticent at first, but came around with time in the glass. The Reynard needed some time to build as well, whereas the Chaillot out of 750 was in such a great place right away.

Barge and Gallet were also both terrific, I'm firmly convinced that both are in the top echelon of C-R producers these days. (A recent bottle of '21 Gallet was also spectacular, and I love the older wines from both.)

The Gonon flight was a blast - thought the 07 showed superbly, smoky and savoury but still with a lot of fruit and really so good. The 09 came across much younger and richer, I'll give those a bit more time.