Jimmy's Northern Rhone Part 1: Saint-Péray, Hermitage & Cornas
Friday 12 September 2014
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In April of this year once again WLWS founder Jimmy Smith jumped into his 43-year old VW campervan and headed to the splendid Northern Rhone valley on an epic quest. A quest to seek out the best wines of this exceptional area and to bring them back to create some specialist masterclasses. And so Jimmy's Northern Rhone specials were born – and with such an abundance of high quality wine, he could have easily created a 3 or 4 part series of specialist tastings instead of the normal 2 part series!
In this first part we shall discover the areas where Jimmy was based for a number of days around Tain l'Hermitage, Saint-Péray and Cornas. We'll kick of proceedings with a rare sparkling treat (now one of only 5 producers in Saint Péray to produce one) and then dabble in a few robust whites comparing the forward Roussanne-dominated styles against the restrained Marsanne-dominated styles. Then we'll moved onto the big-hitting reds from Hermitage and Cornas, all Syrah-dominated, comparing three Cornas at the end. The Alain Voge Cornas 2007 was a contender for wine of the trip so don't miss this one!
Wines on Tasting (9):
Alain Voge 'Les Bulles d'Alain' Saint-Péray (Sparkling)
Stephane Robert Domaine du Tunnel Saint-Péray 2012 (Roussanne)
Jean-Luc Colombo 'La Belle de Mai' Saint-Péray 2012 (Roussanne/Marsanne)
Domaine Alain Voge 'Terres Boisees' Saint-Peray 2010 (Marsanne)
Cave de Tain 'Au Coeur des Siècles' Hermitage Blanc 2010 (Marsanne)
Michel Chapoutier 'Monier de Sizeranne' Hermitage Rouge
Jean-Luc Colombo 'Terres Brulees' Cornas 2011
Vincent Paris Granite 60 Cornas 2012
Alain Voge 'Vieilles Vignes' Cornas 2007