On Oct 7, 8:52*am, "Bill S." > wrote:
> We did a Northern Rhone event last night that was one of the most
> pleasurable in recent memory.
>
> 2004 Voge Fleur de Crussol St. Peray – lemony nose and colour, clean
> wine with a persistent finish. Have to remember this as a white
> Burgundy ringer.
>
> 1994 Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline – dark wine with a nice rubbery nose
> that segued into a charred meat sort of thing with an uplifted
> character. Smooth, tasty and long, with soft tannins, an elegant wine
> but with a tarry undercurrent toward the end. *Great showing that had
> the rest of us giving serious thought as to how we could politely
> sneak out or swap our bottles fo something else.
>
> 2000 Guigal Chateau d’Ampuis Cote Rotie – this had something that was
> missing from the Mouline, a notable floral element to the nose , as
> well as notes of vitamin tablets, cassis and a bit of bacon. *tasy,
> with a sweet entry, harmonious, and fresh near the end. *Later showed
> hints of black pepper developing.
>
> 1991 Chapoutier Hermitage La Sizeranne – good fruit in this nose, with
> hints of eucalyptus and menthol as well as dark fruit and anise.
> Medium bodied and balanced, the tannins now very soft. *Nice point for
> drinking this now.
>
> 1997 Chave Hermitage – another of my favourite pproducers. A nice
> mature nose of slightly dusty fruit, bandaid and black olives, sweet
> entry, good acidity and long slow finish. *Lovely showing and years to
> go.
>
> 1999 Chave Hermitage – sweet slightly bretty nose. Oddly, it started
> out sweet in the mouth, but when we went back to it later it had lost
> that and was dry throughout. *Very nice length with tarry notes and
> tons of black fruit. *Needs time.
>
> 2004 Niepoort Charme – a wine made mostly from Tinto Roriz and
> injected here as a blind ringer. Sweet toffee nose and sweet and
> slightly hot and lingering on palate. *Checking this wine out later
> and finding that Dirk fancies it a Burgundy ringer really surprised
> me.
>
> 1999 Dom. Remizieres Hermitage Cuvee Emilie – slight hint of spearmint
> in the nose, plus floral and even citrus notes. Dark young wine with
> an interesting hit of cocoa right near the end and good acidity.
>
> 1996 Clape Cornas – I was surprised that no one else had hauled out
> any Cornas and this one showed quite differently in the nose than
> everything that had come before. Dusty fruit with hints of clove and
> cassis, smooth entry, a bit of spice in the mouth, the tannins under
> control, and a nice lengthy finish. *No rush but drank very well now.
> First bottle out of my case – guess it is time to start opening a
> bottle every once in awhile.
>
> 1999 Torbreck The Factor – aha – a ringer. *But it couldn’t fool
> anyone with that nose despite French oak. Sweet blackberry liqueur was
> a sure giveaway, but on palate, it was dry and powerful, a great
> cheese wine, which was why I had been saved for last.
>
> Wonderful tasting with not a wine that wasn’t in perfect shape,
> showing well.

Your notes inspired me to open my penultimate bottle of 1994 Guigal
Cote Rotie La Turque. Beautiful wine. Tons of sweet cassis,
chocolate a bit of coffee. Well resolved tannins long smooth finish.
One of the better wines I've tasted this year.