TN: Northern Rhones at La Silhouette

[salilb]

Ramon got together a great group for dinner at La Silhouette with a theme of older Northern Rhones. A really fun evening; great company and wines, and I was very impressed by the restaurant where the food was outstanding, there was ideal wine service and a great ambience that allowed us to really enjoy the company, conversation and wines. Menu highlights for me were the veal sweetbreads and the wild mushroom risotto, but it was an outstanding meal overall that went superbly with the wines.

Flight 1
NV Andre Beaufort Champagne Brut Rosé Grand Cru
Can't remember many Champagnes that have conveyed such a vivid red fruited character. High toned flavours of fresh raspberries and ripe citrus fuits without much in the way of yeasty/autolytic flavours; fresh and vibrant in the mouth and turning more savoury on the back end; really nice.
NV Bernard Bremont Champagne Grand Cru Brut Rosé Ambonnay
A nice contrast with the Beaufort; whereas that's rather red wine-like in its flavour profile and really emphasizes its fruit, this is much more yeasty with lots of brioche, doughy and toasty flavours framing fresh red and white fruited flavours. Beautifully balanced with good depth, finesse and length, will have to look out for this.

Flight 2
1983 Domaine Auguste Clape Cornas
Really good. What a great scent; savoury and bloody with meaty, leathery and autumnal forestal notes around gentle mature black olives and red fruited elements. The tannins are fully resolved, and it's very well balanced with a sense of lightness and remarkable finesse in the mouth. One of the best bottles I've had from Clape.
1989 Robert Michel Cornas Cuvée des Coteaux
Rather boring and straightforward next to the Clape. Dark fruits, some leather and earth on a medium weight frame, but comes across rather tame without a lot of complexity or any of the savoury/gamey notes I expect from older Cornas.

Flight 3:
1990 Pierre Gonon St. Joseph Les Oliviers
Corked.

Flight 4:
1996 Thierry Allemand Cornas Reynard
Even better than the bottle that I had last month. This has it all; layers of pure dark fruit, meatiness, florality, developing savoury and leathery elements, all combining seamlessly into a fragrant, polished whole that manages to convey both a sense of rusticity and remarkable finesse at the same time. Outstanding.
1993 Thierry Allemand Cornas Chaillot
Remarkably fresh for a 19 year old Cornas. Vibrant black cherry and red berried fruit seasoned with vivid floral and gentle leathery elements, really bright acidity that almost seems slightly spritzy at first but settles with time, delicious.

Flight 5:
1998 Marc Sorrel Hermitage Le Gréal
Remarkably Chave-like in its silken finesse, depth and balance. Layers of fresh red and dark fruits, leather, meat and smoky seasonings on an incredibly elegant, silken textured medium weight frame. The sense of textural polish is as compelling as the flavour here, and the balance is outstanding.
1985 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
Absolutely incredible perfume that's hard to really put into words. This is one of those wines that elicits wows just from the scent alone; a fragrance combining all sorts of savoury smoky, meaty, leathery and forestal elements with gentle red fruited flavours. The first few sips seem a little tired, but it picks up in intensity and freshness with some air and the last sips are stunning; complex and layered with amazing finesse and lightness of touch.
1989 M. Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne
There's some red and dark fruit here and a bit of savoury funk but it comes across rather anonymous and dull, showing no sense of place and none of the finesse or depth of the Sorrel or Chave.

Flight 6:
1991 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie
Awesome. Wild and funky with all sorts of savoury meaty, smoky, lavender and spicy flavours around a core of red fruits that's still quite fresh and youthful. There's an amazing fragrance that builds with time, a sense of polish and finesse in the mouth and remarkable persistence.
1995 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie
The same flavours and finesse as the '91, but this come across a bit younger with the fruit having a little more intensity and richness right now, and the meaty flavours not quite as vivid. There's really bright acidity underneath that gives it real lift and vibrancy, and impressive length.

Flight 7:
2000 Éric Texier Côte-Rôtie Vieilles Vignes
Very pretty aromatics; incredibly fresh red fruits, olives and violets and a polished, medium weight frame that's lifted by really bright acidity. It's still very youthful now, and I'd love to see what this turns into with time.
1996 Rene Rostaing Côte-Rôtie La Landonne
There should be an 'Oak to Glass Transfer' category for wines like this. Nothing here even remotely suggesting at Syrah, let alone Côte-Rôtie - whatever nuance may be there is slathered under a mass of wood.
1993 Domaine Jamet Côte-Rôtie
An unplanned extra pull from Ramon. The aromatics show a surprising roasted character that neither the '91 or '95 had, but beyond that there's plenty of ripe red fruit and black olive tinged with savoury and meaty elements.

Dessert:
2001 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
Decanted an hour in advance and still was still showing some sulfury funk when poured and after plenty of swirling. Beneath the sulfur are layers of incredibly pure and fresh Mosel fruit, floral elements and slatey minerality; there's great balance here with a sense of real purity and clarity to the flavours, bright acidity balancing the moderate sweetness and impressive length.

Really fun night, thanks all for the great company and wines.

[DavidG]

Yummm, Chave and Jamet, what's not to like! Thanks for the report. That Bernard Bremont Champagne sounds right up my alley too. Nice lineup!

[Comte Flaneur]

Yes what a line up...a northern rhone lovers dream

Shane about the St Joseph, it is a really good wine but might have still struggled in this line up

[Ramon_NYC]

Good notes, Salil. My $0.02 ....

Northern Rhones at La Silhouette
February 13, 2012

With an enjoyable group of Northern Rhone enthusiasts, we had a terrific line-up of wines with fine food, excellent service and a very nice casual/civilized setting at La Silhouette. Thanks to all that attended and brought examples of good syrah-based wines, as well as the fine pink bubblies that we started with. The restaurant customized our tasting menu and my food highlights included the excellent sweetbreads, the delicious mushroom risotto and the lamb-chop.

Champagne

NV Beaufort Grand Cru Brut Champagne Rose
Elegant, gentle acidity, with flavors that provided mouth-pleasing layers of strawberries, raspberries and mineral. Finesse. Excellent. Thanks Jay. A-

NV Bremont Grand Cru Brut Champagne Rose
Quite a contrast to the Beaufort with its in-your-face yeast and a full-bodied structure. Refreshing with bread and stone sensation. I like the contrast that this presented and this wine also hit the spot for me. Thanks to Dale. B+


80’s Cornas

1983 Dom. Auguste Clape Cornas
Still fresh with the herb and leafy notes. Good acidity and good length. A fine aged example of tradition and good wine-making in the appellation. B++

1989 Dom. Robert Michel Cornas ‘Cuvee de Coteaux’
Roasted herb with earthy and old wood in the complex bouquet. I learned that this is a blend from various parcels that Robert Michel owned and, somehow, I feel that the blending was quite apparent with no singular taste sensations that I was getting. Fruit, some green and some earth. Still a pretty decent mature Cornas. B


More Cornas: Thierry Allemand

1993 Allemand Cornas ‘Chaillot’
A nice whiff of confection, earth, and fruit. Although it appears to be just a little beyond its best drinking years, the wine still provided a good level of acidity and pure syrah goodness all within a smooth-drinking package. B+

1996 Allemand Cornas ‘Reynard’
Here’s Allemand showcasing a young, but very good example of traditional-tasting syrah that provided elements of herb, power and muscles, wild animal tendencies, ripe black/blue fruit, and a well-structured wine with very good balance. Very long finish. A-


Saint Joseph

1990 Pierre Gonon Saint Joseph ‘Les Oliviers’
Corked.


Hermitage Flight

1985 Dom. JL Chave Hermitage
A most appealing nose with fresh meat, baked confection, leather and dry leaves. In excellent condition and very nice drinking form. Rustic. Everything’s integrated nicely but showing tertiary complexity. My WOTN. A-

1989 Dom. M. Chapoutier Hermitage ‘La Sizeranne’
With good bouquet involving some bacon and floral notes, this wine was less intense and while not in the “wow” factor as the other 2 Hermitage this could have been a solid wine by itself. Still a nice showing. B

1998 Dom. Marc Sorrel Hermitage ‘Le Greal’
One of the bottles that was not pre-announced as part of the line-up. A wine that matter-of-factly declared “it’s not all about Chave in these parts here, y’know.” Showing younger with a tad more power and more masculinity than the Chave, but, in the same vein, with components that’s all in the right places and proportions. Thanks to Paul. A-


Jamet and Jamet

1991 Dom. JP and JL Jamet Cote-Rotie
I built up huge, and perhaps unreasonable, expectations on having the opportunity to taste this bottle. Oh, it didn’t disappoint. The wine, silky smooth with that Jamet perfume, was a pleasure to drink. This showed more rustic character than the late 90’s bottles that I’ve had from this producer. A-

1995 Dom. JP and JL Jamet Cote-Rotie
Young and not as giving as the flight-mate. However, these guys should patent that nose! Bacon. Intense fruit and showing more wildness at this point, but air-time helped slightly tame and round out a pleasurable Cote-Rotie. Will need to cellar remaining bottles. B+


Rounding up with more Cote-Rotie

2000 Eric Texier Cote-Rotie Vielles Vignes
Air time in the glass opened this up to show a medium-bodied, traditional Cote-Rotie. There’s plenty going on here once it opens up, all within a nicely-balanced structure. I wouldn’t mind having a couple of this to age in my cellar. B

1996 Rene Rostaing Cote-Rotie ‘La Landonne’
Very forward and plenty of sweet ripe fruit. I was quite excited to try this after it was announced as one of the wines for the dinner, as I’ve been very impressed with Rostaing’s 1991 Cote Blonde effort ( I’ll post this admission here, rather than during the dinner after hearing a few non-flattering comments by some of the attendees towards the producer), but will go with most sentiment tonight as this wine just did not do anything for me in any way, shape or form. C

1993 JP and JL Jamet Cote-Rotie
Another of the last-minute pull, against a few “we have enough semi-resistance” motions , as I brought this as a backup bottle. Considering the recorded un-favorable vintage condition, I’ll pencil this in as a success for the vintage. Not in the same class as the other Jamet bottles we had tonight, but there’s complexity in the nose and good structure and nice lean fruit component in this medium-bodied wine for me to like it. B


An M-S-R

2001 Joh. Jos. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Auslese
High acidity and mineral with an excellent touch of sugar. Sulfur was very evident, but was not distracting in my enjoyment. Thanks to Salil. B+

[salilb]

1996 Rene Rostaing Cote-Rotie ‘La Landonne’
Very forward and plenty of sweet ripe fruit. I was quite excited to try this after it was announced as one of the wines for the dinner, as I’ve been very impressed with Rostaing’s 1991 Cote Blonde effort ( I’ll post this admission here, rather than during the dinner after hearing a few non-flattering comments by some of the attendees towards the producer), but will go with most sentiment tonight as this wine just did not do anything for me in any way, shape or form. C

1993 JP and JL Jamet Cote-Rotie
Another of the last-minute pull, against a few “we have enough semi-resistance” motions , as I brought this as a backup bottle. Considering the recorded un-favorable vintage condition, I’ll pencil this in as a success for the vintage. Not in the same class as the other Jamet bottles we had tonight, but there’s complexity in the nose and good structure and nice lean fruit component in this medium-bodied wine for me to like it. B

In fairness, Jay's "we have enough" was accompanied by him handing the corkscrew to you.
I've also liked one or two of the older Rostaing wines I've had. '94 La Vialliere was quite nice a few months ago. But I find the wines too inconsistent, with the odd good bottle and the rest leaning towards more modern, ripe and oaky flavours.

Thanks again for organizing the dinner. I'll just reiterate that the service and attention at La Silhouette was just perfect, and really added to enjoyment of company, food and wine.