Serious great wines from the holidays (Calon, Louise, Clape)

[Nicklasss]

What is a great wine? Clearly for me, it is a wine that is balanced, complex, that have a sheer power but not too much, that is long, structured and give you pleasure on the eyes, nose, mouth and aftertaste, that represents well it grape blending and area of production (terroir)

You can have all type of great wines: young or old, any country, most type of vitis vinifera.

This report is about the best wines I had during the holiday time.

2009 Château Calon Segur : this is clearly one of the best red wine of Bordeaux i had lately, since the 2 Médoc that Comte Flaneur opened with this year while i was in London (1986 LLC and 96 Latour), 3 other great red Bordeaux opened with JeanFred (00 Montrose, 99 VCC and 09 Pichon Longueville Baron), and finally the 95 Léoville Barton of our tasting group. What i really liked in the 2009 CS is that it is very CS. Dark cherry red color. Aromas were complex and complete, with blackcurrant, sweet black berries, red berries, completed with some light spices, forrest floor and pine tree needle. Fragrant nose. In mouth, well this is where you notice that the 2009 vintage or modern wine making never took the lead over the terroir. Good mixture of sweet and austere fruits, like raspberries and tannic black berries, convincing, intense, supported by spicy noble oak, argile floor minerals, and very long finish on blackcurrants and smoky oak. Well, 5-8 mote years will help to make it better, this probably why the other Bordeaux noted above have a higher score, but this 09 Calon Segur deserve a tn 94+. Splendid.

2010 Château Calon Segur :that is an excellent 2010, still young. A bit more concentrated and dryer at this moment. Color was a bit darker than the 09, with a less fragrant nose, but still the same type of complexity. While the fruit signature is about the same type on the nose, with blackcurrant and sweet blackberries, less red fruit here. A bit more oak too with vanilla, bitter dark chocolate, spices and vine wood. In mouth, nice blackberries and blackcurrants flavors, completed with sweet oak, sage and spicy blackcherries. Dryer tannins, medium length, with noble oak and black plums. Need more time, but this will be more awesome in 10 years i guess. Tn: 92+.

2005 Pommery Cuvée Louise : nice packaging, but a very nice wine of Champagne. Very pale light color, with still lot of bubbles at 17 yo. Nose is very refined, distinctive, full of complexity and élégance. Still young, no oxydative tones at all. Nose of white flowers, chalk, lemongrass, with some ginger, anise, and acid apples. In mouth, well the richness is so balanced with the freshness, like a touch of white honey, lemon, flowers flavors. Add very light ginger taste, lot of zip, green melon. Very long, top notch drink. I don't like to compare, but surely equal or better than the 08 Dom Perignon we had in 2020. Very feminine, in a great feminist way that 05 Pommery Louise. Tn : 95-96.

2012 Cornas Auguste Clape : just wow. A great Cornas, a great Syrah, a great wine. When you open that type of wine, you're becoming a bit nervous, anxious, as you want to have a good moment. That still very purple wine is the dream definition that you imagine about Cornas. Strong complex nose with great definition, like a haughty monster, a dragon! Aromas of violet flowers, purest blackcurrants, burned wood or coal, creosote, black and green olives (green olives aromas, i smell only in the wine up to now). You also add some rock tones and light dry raisin. What a f**king nose! Mouth is like crushed blackcurrants, blackberries and rocks. Flavorful, very ripe tanning, rich but also classic austerity. Complete with salty bloody meat, very long blackfruit, tannic and violet flowers finish. When you think it is over, strong backdraft of smoky black and green olives tapenade. A great wine, from a great terroir, from a great vine grower and wine maker. Tn : 96-97.

There was other wines, but i guess these are the ones that deserved an enthusiastic report.

Life is good.

[Nicklasss]

Distinctive great stuff

[SF Ed]

Nice stuff! I particularly like Clape Cornas. I've got the 1995 and 1999 lined up for consumption sometime soon. They are great wines, but for me they take a long time to be at their peak.

SF Ed

[Nicklasss]

Yikes

[Claudius2]

Nic
I luckily have cases of both the 09 and 10 Calon Segur so it’s nice to hear that they are showing well.
When do you think they will reach peak maturity?

Cheers
Mark

[robert goulet]

Nice...I just picked up a '14 clape cornas...need to grab the '12 based in your experience...well done

[jal]

Great notes as usual Nic,
I was never a fan of Cuvée Louise, my fault entirely. The one time I splurged and bought one I got apple cider and oxidation while everyone (experienced tasters like John Gilman, Dale, Musigny) around said this was a feature not a bug. I decided right there to stop buying it. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Clape Cornas is great, and I always notice the olives. I am definitely a fan of opening these sooner than Ed, I think they age very well but they are also delicious young so why wait?
And RG, I find it very difficult to notice a difference in Clape or Allemand Cornas between vintages. Is it me or do I love them all?

[JoelD]

Some great notes, Nic. And high scores for you. I almost bought an 02 Pommery Louise recently, guess I shouldn't have passed. I'll have to look into these Cornas wines soon as well. As I'm now starting to finally try to get more into northern Rhone.

[robert goulet]

Great notes as usual Nic,
I was never a fan of Cuvée Louise, my fault entirely. The one time I splurged and bought one I got apple cider and oxidation while everyone (experienced tasters like John Gilman, Dale, Musigny) around said this was a feature not a bug. I decided right there to stop buying it. I am glad you enjoyed it.
Clape Cornas is great, and I always notice the olives. I am definitely a fan of opening these sooner than Ed, I think they age very well but they are also delicious young so why wait?
And RG, I find it very difficult to notice a difference in Clape or Allemand Cornas between vintages. Is it me or do I love them all?

Can't go wrong with either, but more bang for the buck with Clape

[JimHow]

Sounds like you liked the 2009 Call segue better than the 2010, Nicola.
The 2009 d'Armailhac was splendid last year. The 2009 Giscours was tighter than a witch's anus.