The metallic tone of my alarm clock rang at 3.30am to awake me from my slumber.  Usually a start this early would make me incredibly grumpy indeed (as colleagues at C&B would attest to) but this day was different.  Our destination was Marseille and more specifically the Rhône and our aim was to taste as many 2009’s, 2010’s and any other interesting back vintages that might be thrown our way.  I absolutely love the wines from this region and hence the bounce in my step at 3.30 in the morning!  Alison & I were scooped up from the airport by Oliver and we all climbed into what turned out to be a doubly upgraded BMW hire car – the most luxurious hire car I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing in the wine trade.

First stop was Domaine Font de Michelle where we were met by Guillaume and his lovely wife.  News had just reached them that hail had hit in Châteauneuf the previous day – they didn’t know exact locations at this point but it was clear that some growers will have lost large proportions of their 2011 harvest – this brought home just how susceptible to extremes ‘farming’ in the broad sense of the word can be. 

Once talk of hail had been put to one side, we set about tasting a great selection of 2009’s and 2010’s.  It became clear very quickly that these were both very successful vintages.  The 2009 reds were terrifically well made – solid, generous and built to last.  The 2010 reds has a touch more elegance for me – not better or worse, just different.  The stand out wine in terms of value has to be the 2009 Gonnet Côtes du Rhône which I would argue is perhaps the best value red on C&B’s list – seamless and well balanced – perhaps even worthy of a few years in the cellar.  The Châteauneufs were perfectly constructed – balance, grip, lovely pure fruit and real character.  We tasted a number of different variatals from barrel too which was fascinating – this Domaine has a very bright future and offers amazing value for very fine wine.  By the end of the tasting, the C&Bers were getting quite weary after such an early start – a delicious ‘provençale’ style lunch was served along with some incredible older vintages all blind – the CNDP Tradition 1990 was my highlight but the Cuvée Etienne Gonnet 1998 was not far behind – examples of just how good the wines can be when aged.

The next stop after lunch was Domaine Charvin.  I had heard great things about this estate before – the Côtes du Rhône is lauded by many as one of the greatest quality examples from the region and I can now understand why.  When we arrived, Monsieur Charvin was busily tending his vines following the hail – amazingly and to his great credit, he made time to pop by and greet us – admirable considering the carnage that had just hit some of his vineyards.  The 2009 Côtes du Rhône was stunning –  mainly Grenache giving a bit of crunchy fruit but ripeness and muscularity, hints of violets too – incredible stuff.  The Châteauneuf was big, bulky and very very good – one to keep for a number of years and superbly balanced.  The 2010’s tasted from barrel and in projected blends were similarly good – a bit more elegance and aromatics than the 2009’s but seamless none the less. These are well worth looking out for.

Our third stop was chez Rosalind at Domaine du Cayron.  This is an estate that has been producing classically styled Gigondas for decades and does it very well indeed.  We started off by tasting a tank sample of the 2010 vintage which on first impression was stunning.  Creamy yet fresh with lift and cherry fruit – the palate had a bit of an animal edge to it but should be absolutely stonking in a few years’ time.  We then moved into a cavernous Chai where we were presented with 3 very impressive old Foudres sitting side by side.  These enormous barrels housed the 2009 vintage that had been transferred at different times.  Samples from each of the three could not have been more different and each will ‘bring something to the party’ when it comes to the final blend.  Foudres No. 1 was rich and expressive with a hint of herbaciousness on the nose.  No. 2 had been in the barrel for 6 months longer than the others and was a bit harder & muscular whilst No. 1 had a lovely freshness and femininity along with a hint of spice and lovely aromatics.  I am far from an expert when it comes to blending but I can only imagine that the finished product will be absolutely stunning.

By the time we left Domaine du Cayron, time was ticking and we hot-footed it to meet Michel Tardieu to taste his 2010’s.  I won’t go into huge amounts of detail as there were so many wines here.  What I would say is that I don’t think I have ever given such consistently high scores to a series of wines ever before.  These were spectacularly good at all levels.  The Southern reds from Côtes du Rhône up to Châteauneuf level including many village wines were sensational – aromatic, complex, balance, perfume and freshness were all descriptives used in abundance – very 1978 in style I was assured!  Wines to watch out for here are the Rasteau and Gigondas which were amazing. 

Moving onto the North, we tasted from Crozes Hermitage via Cornas, St Joseph and up to Côte-Rôtie and Hermitage.  These were perfect examples of the Syrah grape at its best and a few words just did not do justice to how good the wines were.  Classic crunch, aromatics, peppery red fruit bursting out of the glass – just wonderful – the stars for me were the St Joseph and the Hermitage but none could have been faulted.  Finally we tasted through Michel’s 2010 whites.  It’ll be really interesting to see how these develop over the coming years.  They were incredibly ripe and concentrated, with lovely complexity but may not be as long lived as in some previous vintages.  All in all, this was a superb line up of wines – I’ve started to save already and will be buying as much as I possibly can – these are truly some of the best value ‘fine wines’ being produced in France right now.  This brilliant tasting was followed by a superb dinner with Michel, his wife & son – truffles, scrambled egg, Côte de boeuf and some delicious wine.  We were also ‘joined’ at the table by the famous French comedian Henri Tisot much to the hilarity of our hosts (does anyone else think Mr Hartley looks at all like him?!) – a great end to a great day.

Tuesday morning and the alarm clock sounded at a rather unsociable time for the second day running.  The C&B crew were up and out in order to get up to the Northern Rhône for more tasting.  First stop was to meet Stephane at Domaine Ogier.  This is a property that I had known relatively little about until visiting and I had no real expectations.  We were guided into rather a nice little tasting room adjoining the barrel room and guided through an amazing line up.  First off were two lovely red Vin de Pay 2010’s from barrel – purity, balance and incredibly drinkable even at such a young age.  We then moved on to tasting 5 different barrels, each taken from separate plots in Côte-Rôtie.  The exact locations were slightly lost on me but judging by how good the wine was, the Côte-Rôtie will be a must have in 2010.  Complexity, fragrance, pepper, spice, rose petals – I could go on and on but these barrel samples had it all.  As a blend, I have no doubt that the Côte-Rôtie from this estate will be great – if a single cuvee of for example Belle Hélène is made then even better!  We moved onto some 2009’s that were much more gutsy – the Belle Hélène was a particular highlight. 

Onwards to René Rostaing whose wines I have tasted rather a lot of – this was set to be an education in serious Northern Rhône!  After a warm greeting from the lovely Rene, we started on 2009’s which had just been blended.  They were wonderful – amazing lift, sweet fresh fruit, really beautifully integrated tannins, balance and very long indeed.  After these, we were guided through the majestic 2010’s.  To kick off we tried the Ampodium (replacement for Cuvée Classique?) which had lovely richness and generosity without being OTT.  Moving on to the La Landonne – WOW – ripe, breadth, meatiness and hints of herbs and spice – amazing wine.  The last of the reds, Côte Blonde was simply superb and almost the wine of the trip for me with perfumed fruit, structure and amazing depth.  We the tried both the 2009 and 2010 Condrieu side by side – the 2009 was prettier and the 2010 richer – both good examples.  To round off, some older vintages which just had the effect of underlying the message that this is a producer at the peak of form making some truly great Northern Rhône.

With a very quick detour to François Villard where we tried a multitude of great value Condrieu, we finished at an estate whose wines I didn’t know much about but was eager to taste.  André Perret is considered by so many to be one of the great producers of white Rhône and this tasting did little to dampen my enthusiasm.  We kicked off with 2010 barrel samples.  The VDP Marsanne lovely & precise with nice acidity and richness.  The St Joseph followed suit and although a bit closed, opened slightly to give stone fruit, minerality and real depth. We then tasted both barrel & tank samples of the 2010 Condrieu which I adored for their sheer contrast – if the ultimate blend is as good as the sum of its parts, it will be a great buy.  The final two whites were the Clos Chanson and Côteau de Chery – these were mind-blowingly good and have to be tasted to be believed – they should really be classed as grand cru because the quality certainly deserves this status. 

All in all, this was a great tasting trip and it is no exaggeration to say in 2010, we have another wonderful vintage especially for Rhône reds.  In future years, the 09’s and ‘10’s will be placed side by side in comparison – to my mind it would be like choosing whether your son or daughter was your favourite child – 2009’s being much more masculine and 2010’s being more feminine – they are both great in their own way!