2010 a great vintage…….
- Chateau Lafite 2010: Production around 15,000-20,000 cases; Release price approx. £12,000 cs/12*
- Côte Rotie Tardieu-Laurent 2010: Production around 400 cases; Release price (and the only price) @ £430 cs/12 *
Apologies for the vulgar attention grabbing (and somewhat simplified) headlines but I hoped to get your attention? Still reading right?! If you have seen Money Ball (good film, no wine references but you’ll see where I’m going) then you may liken the Rhône Valley to being the greatest pound for pound Fine wine region in the world. The value to be had is extraordinary. On Thursday we were treated to a staff dinner with Bastien Tardieu. Son of Michel Tardieu from highly acclaimed Tardieu-Laurent negociant-eleveur. Bastien is a disarming, quiet, family man yet holds court very easily and is an oracle of passionate knowledge and at a relatively young age. Our venue was Bettys Kitschen in IFC, a Corney & Barrow favourite for decent French staples, a nice view of the light show (look beyond the Wanchai Expressway construction..) and knowledgeable staff. Famed for championing Cantonese cuisine in the UK with his Michelin-starred London restaurants, Hakkasan and Yauatcha, Alan Yau opened his new European brasserie Bettys Kitschen at the ifc shopping mall.
We came armed with questions and I ended up asking the waiter for more paper! The Rhône offers a fantastic array of wines and Tardieu-Laurent are able to cover nearly 20 appellations. If you are not familiar with the Rhône then it really is one of the most interesting yet accessible wine regions. Any merchant will have a map of Rhône on the desk or shop wall (did you just check?) because the region snakes down from North to South for 150 miles, covering hugely different geology, terroirs and climates, primarily a thorough examination of the Syrah and Grenache varieties all backed up by a roll call of legendary and romantic appellations such as Côte Rotie, Gigondas and Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Should we decant? Bastien agreed we should for all except the 100% Grenache CNDP. He explained Grenache is more sensitive to air, whereas Syrah benefits from some decanting and can be a little reductive initially. Indeed often, it is even better the next day if you have resisted finishing the bottle! I put it to Bastien that a key question we often get from our customers is what is the main difference between CNDP Cuvée-Spéciale and CNDP Vieilles Vignes – given that the average vine age for both is 80-100yr+ (yes 80-100yr old vines!). For the VV there is 10-15% Syrah which is fermented separately in new oak (Syrah likes new oak), whilst the Grenache spends its time in 1-3 yr old barrels. Also the terroir for the VV is more pebbly whilst more sandy for CS. The end result is that the VV is a more modern, darker, fruit-laden style with the Cuvée-Spéciale more ‘old school’. The Cuvée-Spéciale will age more slowly yet retain its lovely Grenache colour for many years.
Bastien believes 2010 was possibly the greatest vintage in Tardieu-Laurent history – for consistent quality throughout North and South. 2011 looks better for the North.
Côte du Rhône Villages Les Becs Fins 2009
Now before we start….please put aside completely any notions of the insipid nothingness CDR that you see served all over Parisian tourist traps. This is a serious wine. The Villages level also has far stricter requirements and Tardieu-Laurent go well beyond. 50/50 Grenache/Syrah, vineyards located around Avignon from similar pebbly soils to CNDP. 40 yr old vines! This was the first wine of the night and served straight from bottle. We were all struck by the depth and purity of the nose – had we poured the wrong wine? No this was the CDR Villages and Bastien explained it sees no oak. The aim is purity and aromatics. The terroir and vigorous selection helps to produce a big seductive, deeply coloured, sweet, ripe wine with excellent minerality. With time in glass it softens perfectly. ‘ALL DAY LONG!’ Hugo suddenly shouted. One of many great Hugo-isms. Here we believe, short on time, he tried to sum up that he would happily sell this all day long to his customers yet at the same time could happily drink this all day long. Either way we all seemed to nod in agreement. At under HK$ 1500 per 12 this vies for Corney & Barrow’s greatest value for money wine.
CNDP Cuvée-Spéciale 08
Bastien explained Tardieu-Laurent were producing 100% Grenache CNDP long before it was fashionable (CNDP of course a trivia dream on grape varieties). The vines are located close to Rayas, no destemming takes place. The CS has a sweeter nose than VV, was lifted and floral with gorgeous fruit and spice. A real spiciness on the palate in fact, cinnamon and fennel, touch of creaminess. Soft and complex, the power and acidity carefully balanced . For 08 already delicious. I had Double Baked souffle and the combination of ripe sweetish fruit and savoury worked well. HK$ 5300 per 12.
Côte Rotie 2007
‘aahhh the easiest appellation to spot’ was Bastien’s musing as he nosed the Côte Rotie. Lovely floral, violets, garrigue, licquorice, rich and concentrated, huge colour contrast to the CNDP CS. Really impressive minerality from largely Côte Brune parcels. We’re onto 100% Syrah of course and the savouriness and power comes to the fore. But one thing to really get across is the femininity and finesse of Côte Rotie. Its charming, elegant. It sees 100% new oak and Bastien remarked again that Syrah needs too, but then it begins a very long life indeed improving for years. In the glass this became stunning. Wonderfully complex even at this very young age. HK$ 5900 per 12
Hermitage 2004
We realised we had one bottle left in the wine fridge and so thought we would surprise Bastien. Suitably interested he ran us through the vintage. Again I have to say he really has so much information to pass on and it’s a privilege to share his company. Good ripeness but difficult to control was the broad characteristics of 04 especially for the North. Hermitage is South facing, limestone/clay, though gentler slopes than the vertiginous Côte Rôtie. The result is a bigger more muscular wine style. Yet the 04 showed a hallmark of Hermitage, incredible longevity. It was still so primary, dark fruits, cassis, floral, bit of dark chocolate but none of the leathery savouriness you might have expected. Bastien was impressed. It was how he thought he 04 should show after 8 years, austere and tightly wound yet with attractive primaries. There was plenty of black pepper on the palate and big integrated tannins and acidity. Opened in glass alittle. One with a very long future ahead. (None available to sell sadly!) Paired with Beef Bourgignon. Heavy duty but complimented.
Merci a vous, Bastien. One of the keys to the quality of Tardieu-Laurent is the impeccable attention to selection of parcels through the Rhône. Bastien’s knowledge of these parcels was fascinating. Too much detail for this blog but worth a mention. These are serious wines and we have long followed them as have our customers, not to mention the most celebrated wine critics. Don’t use the phrase ‘insider wine’ Luke please I promised myself. But there I’ve said it – perhaps they define the term
WINE OF THE NIGHT – CÔTE ROTIE 2007. (5 cases left in the company, 4 in HK. And that’s it!)
Until William churped up with Côte du Rhône Blanc, Guy Louis. Shrewdly he had taken a bottle to certain restaurant accounts with Bastien – and it had been polished off. No time to blog the whites this time!
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*approx. figures