2021 Northern Rhone Wines from Domaine Levet in Côte-Rotie, Guillaume Gilles & Domaine Lionnet in Cornas!
These are among the most authentic and age-worthy wines of the Northern Rhone, imported by Neal Rosenthal. 2021 was a difficult vintage, generally producing wines with lower alcohol and higher acidity than the hot, dry years of 2018-2020. In the hands of these growers, however, the results were outstanding, offering superb terroir expression and the potential for long aging.
We're offering four wines at low net prices, arrival in the store Friday June 14th....
(text from importer Neal Rosenthal, reviews from John Livingstone-Learmonth in drinkrhone)
"Domaine Levet - daughter Agnès is at the helm, and she continues to work their vertiginous, unforgiving terrain with bred-in-bone skill. Labor in this appellation is unavoidably manual and treacherous, with many terraces so narrow as to accommodate but a single row of vines, which plunge for water through scant topsoil and meters of pure schist. The wines today are produced in the same doggedly old-school manner as they always have been: minimal de-stemming, natural fermentations, long macerations, élevage in mostly old foudres and tonneaux, and no filtration. Notably, all of Levet’s holdings are of the petite serine strain of Syrah—the ancient local strain of the region, whose smaller-berried, more aerated clusters produce wines of deeply savory fruit and intense spice"
"Guillaume Gilles is a bona fide superstar of Cornas. A local native, Guillaume learned the ropes through stages with Jean-Louis Chave and Robert Michel between 2000 and 2004, and in fact, until very recently when he relocated to his newly constructed winery high up in Les Rieux, he made his wines in Michel’s tiny old underground cellar in the heart of the village. Furthermore, Guillaume’s flagship Cornas is produced primarily from vineyards in Chaillotwhich were the source of Michel’s well-known “Cuvée des Coteaux.” A brilliant farmer, Guillaume eschews chemicals in the vineyards, working his three hectares completely by hand. He vinifies in concrete, uses only naturally occurring yeasts, and employs only whole clusters in his vinifications—a vital factor in his wines’ intoxicating aromatics and a resounding statement of his old-school sensibilities."
Domaine Lionnet "The Lionnet family has been farming in Cornas since 1575, and the five-hectare domaine today comprises an impressive array of very old vines in some of the area’s greatest sites. In 2003, Corinne Lionnet and her husband Ludovic Izerable—originally from Grenoble—assumed control of the family holdings, and we have witnessed with great delight a steady and remarkable improvement over the ensuing vintages. Although Lionnet’s practices are quite close to that of Gilles—natural fermentations, no de-stemming, neutral 600-liter barrels for ageing—the wines are more chiseled, leaner and slightly sterner in their youth, yet equally profound in personality and revelatory with proper bottle age."
2021 Domaine Levet Cote-Rotie "Chavaroche" $103.99 "dark red; there is an aroma of bacon fat, crushed blackberry with a prune ripeness on the nose. The palate is oily in texture, the essence of black stone fruits, develops a firm lining on the second half, the finish tight, lip smacking, has rocky elements on the aftertaste, real attitude there. It’s country style Rôtie, grounded in tone, with stems and their vegetal side deep within it. It’s genuine, with good persistence, is a “Bonjour, mon brave” sort of wine, a wine of density and scope. It receives marks for character – is one for those who love the remaining traditional style wines. This was 100% whole bunch, as usual."
2021 Domaine Levet Cote-Rotie "Journaries" $93.99 "dark red; the bouquet stands upright, with a chalky note, graphite, cassis fruit with restraint, is pretty ripe. The palate gives a cool true example of Landonne, with black berry jam, rather thick tannins and a quiet late surge that works well, gives it welcome life. There is discreet intensity in its black juice."
2021 Guillaume Gilles Cornas $99.99 (Gilles’s flagship Cornas comprises three separate parcels, all within the renowned vineyard of Chaillot, planted between the early-1950s and the mid-1970s) " dark red; the nose makes a statement, an noted air of blood, with mulled raspberry, herbs, licorice, a struck match air, sustains. The palate is a good mix of fresh and intense red fruit, live tannins not too early on the scene. There is a rocky-gunflint stretch towards the finish, accumulated sandiness there. This is Nordic, a gradual gainer in gras with time, highly authentic, STGT wine, giving top interest for the aficionados. Robert Michel compares 2021 to 2004, which wasn’t very hot, and was a very linear year. I would say there is a little more depth in 2021, with a similar level of acidity."
2021 Domaine Lionnet Cornas "Terre Brulée" 71.99 ("from very old vines, between 40 to 100 years of age, in several notable Cornas vineyards, which are all blended into their flagship cuvée “Terre Brûlée”: Mazards, with granite-inflected soils of clay-limestone, is dark and powerful; Chaillot contributes classic granitic heft and dusty spice; clay-limestone Pied de la Vigne, which flanks Chaillot’s eastern edge, provides structural rigor; and Combe, the southernmost lieu-dit in the appellation, comprises sandy granite soils which give rounder fruit and more overtly floral aromas. Aged entirely in used 600-liter demi-muids, “Terre Brulée” is elemental and stern in its youth (in keeping with the house style), yet it will unfurl over the years to reveal a wine of great lift and energy." From drinkrhone: "dark red; the bouquet is inky, with well lined up cassis, raspberry, a marked note of iodine with herbs such as thyme. The palate deals a good stream of blue fruit, a floral murmur, the tannins having dig; it generates gras depth, finishes firmly, is proper engine room wine for the blend. It’s straight along late on, with a blood assertion, a rocky finale, has character. The tannins will enter gradually here."
