Clusel-Roch 2020 Vin de France Serine

The 2020 Clusel-Roch Vin de Pays Serine was made entirely with young vines of Serine, massale selection from their Cote-Rotie vines, in a very interesting vineyard named "Le Plomb" which is approximately on the back, more western facing slope just south of "Vialliere" and "Grandes Places." We were able to taste the wine this week, and it is truly a very special Vins de Pays! The wine shows a bright red/black color with quite lovely and complex high-toned berry fruit liqueur with hints of smoke, earth and rose petal. The palate is dense and sapid but light on its feet with intriguing mineral flavors below complex focused red and black fruits, with a long finish of palate coating black fruits and minerals. Our friend John Livingstone-Leaarmonth of drinkrhone had this too say: "quite a dark red colour; this has a floating, pure red fruited nose, soft scenting, a little pepper snap present. The fruit is cool, tinkling, runs gracefully, tannins that are precise well in the mix. It’s a very good ensemble, is top w.o.w. attack with real early appeal, precision." (w.o.w. = what one wants - drinking beautifully now)  Notice the words "precise" and "precision" as this wine really has focus and definition of fruit and mineral flavors. Congrats to Guillaume Closel for this lovely "Serine!"

Texier 2020 Vin de France Le Clau Vieille Serine

(Arrives 4/6) "From a handful of rows in our 0.5 ha of a very particular strain of Serine. Planted in the 1930’s in the Masson parcel of Saint-Julien en-Saint-Alban in the lieu-dit Le Clau. They present unique ampelographic qualities, very different from the Serines we find in Brézème or other Northern vineyards, notably very low alcoholic degrees when in full maturity. All replacements here have been done through marcottage, without the introduction of any clones. We are still not sure of their exact nature, and certain ampelography experts believe it may not even be Syrah. It may actually be Bravade or Exbrayat. We've decided to vinify these separately and the result is unique. We’ve discovered a very particular personality, and it’s an immense pleasure to share this with you.Whole-cluster, with a light treading for 20% of the grapes. 6-8 days of maceration with an immersed cap, no extraction. Native yeasts. Aged 18 months in demi-muids. No filtration or fining. No sulfur was added at any point during vinification, aging or bottling."  (The following note is from our June 2022 tasting - the wine has closed up (March 2023) and wll need aeration or aging before drinking) The 2020 Le Clau shows an inky black/purple color with bright rim.  Vivid black fruit aromas (boysenberry, blackberry) with black peppercorn, earth, mint, garrigue - develops quickly with aeration. The wine is intense but not heavy with a very mineral attack and very firm acidity with bright cassis and blackberry fruit that emerges with air. A fascinating melange of black fruits, anise and minerals  lingers lightly on the palate in the very long finsh. This is an extraordinary wine that is great fun to taste now but 5 years in the cellar, and perhaps much longer, should create something quite unique. David Lillie

Texier 2016 CdR St. Julien en St. Alban Domaine Pergaud Vieille Serine

(Arrives 4/6) 100% Syrah/Serine. From 70+ year-old vines of an old, pre-clonal variety of Syrah known as "Serine" planted on a south-facing slope on granite soils in St-Julien-en-St-Alban, organically farmed and harvested by hand. The vinification and aging are identical to Texier's Brézème Serine bottling and thus purely expressive of the much warmer, sunnier microclimate and granite-rich St. Julien terroir: whole-cluster fermentation with indigneous yeasts and no sulfur in wooden vats with an 8-10-day maceration; no extraction technqiues, only a submerged cap for a gentle infusion of color and flavor; aging in foudres for 36-48 months on the fine lees without racking; bottling without fining or filtration and generally no sulfur.

Texier 2016 Brézème Domaine Pergaud Vieille Serine

(Arrives 4/6) Made primarily from 80 to 90 year-old vines of Serine, grown in a small hillside parcel of limestone marl soil in Brézème, generally regarded as an old version of Syrah (which evolved from Mondeuse Blanc and Dureza) with smaller berries which survived through massale selection, principally in Cote Rotie.  Serine gives a more aromatic and elegant wine that the larger berried modern Syrah.  "Probably the last "classic" vintage of my life" says Éric "old school, harvested in October, classic balance but gentler than 2013, so very approachable. One of my personal favorite Brézème Pergaud, unmistakably Brézème. No sulfur." The wine shows a dark garnet/black color with subtle, elegant aromas, floral, then gamey, then dense high-toned blackberry, a bt of blueberry with stone and spice. The palate is lean and youthful with firm acidity, dense but weightless. Elegant red fruits need time to emerge. The finish is long , all minerals and saline acids. Approachable, perhaps, but I would put this away for 5 to 8 years then drink until 2042.  David Lillie