Mid October I organised a tasting of Northern Rhône Syrah wines. I visited the region with my wife in Mai 2015. Back then I bought wines from the best denominations: Côte-Rôtie, Hermitage and Cornas. I let the bottles age in my cellar for six years and now I’ve decided to taste a couple with some friends.
The two bottles I bought back then at the wineries are:
- Ermitage 2010 from Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet, a wine that sells for 75 CHF
- Cornas 2012 made by Pierre Gaillard, which I paid a bit more than 30 CHF
To complete the tasting, I recently bought four more.
One from the most prestigious producer of Northern Rhône:
- Brune et Blonde de Guigal 2017 from Côte-Rôtie, a bottle that sells at Manor for 55 CHF
Two from the lesser denominations:
- Crozes-Hermitage Domaine de Roure 2017 produced by Paul Jaboulet Aîné that sells at ARVI for 60 CHF
- Saint-Joseph 2019 made by Maison Alexandrins that sells at Manor for 25 CHF
And one from the northernmost Rhône region: Valais in Switzerland. The Lux Vina Syrah “Rhône Saga” 2019 produced by Domains Chevaliers in Salgesh. A bottle I bought at the winery for 55 CHF.
As usual, we blind tasted all wines.
It has been a very enjoyable wine tasting. One of the most enjoyable I ever did. All wines from the Northern Rhône turned out to be excellent. The only bottle that disappointed was the one from Valais of Switzerland, which didn’t deliver even a fraction of the pleasure given by the Syrah wines made in France.
Surprisingly, the bottle classified either first or second by each one has been the Saint-Joseph 2019 made by Maison Alexandrins: the cheapest. The second cheapest: Cornas 2012 made by Pierre Gaillard, made it second place.
Country: France, Switzerland
Region: Côte-Rôtie, Saint-Joseph, Hermitage, Crozes-Hermitage, Cornas, Valais
Grapes: Syrah
Type: Red
Vintage: 2010, 2012, 2017, 2019
Producer: Guigal, Maison Alexandrins, Philippe & Vincent Jaboulet, Paul Jaboulet Aîné, Pierre Gaillard, Domains Chevaliers
Price range: Premium (30-50 US$), Extra (50-100 US$)
Pascal’s Enjoyment Index: 4/5