A Northern Rhone Odyssey

Maureen organised a brilliant northern rhone dinner last Thursday, with a star-studded line up of rare and esoteric wines, connoisseurs and relics...

We started off on a high note...

Chateau Grillet, 2005

Pale but radiant; exceptionally light on its feet with subtle stone fruits, igneous slate and minerals; beguiling and complex; its firm acidic backbone will allow this to age effortlessly. A wine with impeccable balance and dexterity.

Condrieu ‘Coteau de Vernon’ Domaine Vernay 2004

Mature, aromatic with fine texture, honey-blossom, acacia and apricots.

On to the first flight of reds, Cote Roties:

Burgaud Cote Rotie 1988

Off-piste; meaty, carnal, brawny, foursquare, sous-bois; verdant.

Jasmin Cote Rotie 1990 en magnum

Gamey and earthy this wine displays a surreal symbiosis of floral femininity and masculine backbone and punch. Intricately woven and kaleidoscopic, it has an ethereal levity and a pleasing tension with subtle notes of Madagascar cocoa, wolframite, mysterious dark fruits, Mediterranean olives, wet fox, iodine and black and white pepper.

This is perhaps the quintessential expression of northern rhone and the syrah grape. It was deservedly the wine of the night.

Jamet Cote Rotie 1988

Brutal, marauding and powerful, but somewhat lacking in elegance compared to the Jasmin; masculine, brawny and chewy with lashings of bacon fat and smatterings of olives/tapenade, leather and Mediterranean herbs. A bit of VA permeated this wine, and the finish wasn't smooth. This bottle was not as good as one we tasted in April 2011.

Noel Verset Cornas 1989

Delicate, ethereal and earthy with leather, bramble and sour cherries; it had gamey, bacon notes, tobacco, mocha and mineral, impeccably balanced. Transcendental.

Noel Verset Cornas 1990

Initially quite closed, and somewhat curmudgeonly this had hints of autumn leaves, earth, iodine, feldspar, smoke, bacon fat, and animal hides. An intellectual wine which mesmerises you as it metamorphoses with its intricately woven tapestry, Delphic personality and cognitive dissonance.

Noel Verset Cornas 1991

Complex, animal hide, earthy and spicy. A perfectly judged expression of mature syrah, another cerebral wine, which weaves its charms with an almost Kafka-esque reflexivity.

August Clape Cornas 1991

A much more expressive nose of mushroom, olives, tapenade, flowers, machine oil, tungsten carbide and mahogany; plummy and beefy, St-James's Street tobacconist. Lithe and svelte on the palate.

Allemand Cornas Reynard 94

Masculine and fruit forward, beefy cow hide, savoury, minerally, and olive/tapenade. This young wine lacked the subtlety and complexity of some of the others but was thrillingly raw and intense.

Jaboulet Hermitage La Chapelle 1982

Gamey, spicy, dried flowers, opaque. Bacon fat, dried herbs, sous-bois, umami, rose petals, Romeo y Julieta robusto. Dried plums and orange peel, savoury with lively acidity but mellow at the same time.

This dinner would not have been what it was without the generosity of Richard Katz the North London Northern Rhone Maestro, who could not attend in the flesh but was with us spiritually.