Gentaz-Dervieux was the great old man of the Cote-Rotie. I feel privileged to have had many vintages from the 70s and 80s whilst at Oxford (many thanks to Paul Day who seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of serious vintages), and tasting this brings back all of those happy memories. 1991 is a top Cote-Rotie vintage and with a producer of this caliber one can legitimately expect style, class and vivacity. It does not disappoint.

Cote-Rotie "Cote Brune" 1991, Gentaz-Dervieux
By arse this smells good! Mature, soft fruit, pepper and rich earthiness are very strongly present on the nose which is about as beautiful and elegant as one could possibly ask of Cote-Rotie. Really complex as well. The elegance is assisted by the low relatively low alcohol, this is not one of those over-blown Cote-Roties some people make, but it is a true vision of restrained loveliness. The palate has some Cote Brune manliness to the tannins, but the main impression one gets from this is that it is a subtle, deeply refined wine that sucks you in to enjoy its manifold pleasures. And how I am enjoying them. This is a wonderful wine that is up for drinking now, it is mature yet still lively. I'm smitten.

I was looking through my cellar list and was pleased to see that I've got quite a few bottles of Hermitage. I love Hermitage. I recently got a bottle of 2005 Jean-Louis Chave for the partner; I was very pleased to have snaffled it given its 'hen's teeth' status and generally obscene pricing. Given that I have about a case of mid- and late-nineties Chave I thought I'd see by what obscene amounts these cost now. I was surprised that old Chave is generally cheaper than the most recent vintage. For example, the 1997 is now £97 a bottle. The 1996 is £76, the 1995 is £152 and the 1994 is £87. Only the 1995 is more expensive (by a mere nose) and not only is a vintage at least as good as the 2005 but also it has had ten extra years to mature and reach its peak. You can see by my notes these are serious wines, and with the extra maturity it does raise the question of why one should be buying young Chave.

I should add that even at these prices Hermitage, especially Chave, is a special treat for your humble reporter. I have mentioned before that Domaine Du Colombier 2005 is the cost-aware choice for Hermitage from this top vintage. Not quite the fireworks of Chave, I admit, but a serious performer.

I love Cote-Rotie and Clusel-Roch make properly beautiful wines. Considering this comes from a really ripe vintage it is completely harmonious and deeply charming. It may be a tad over its claimed 12% alcohol, but such is the classy fruit and refined minerality that you will not be harassed by any awfulness.

Cote-Rotie "Classique" 2005, Domaine Clusel-Roch
Quite dark in colour. The nose has plenty of fruit which, whilst largely dark and ripe, is very elegant and refined. There is some great earthy complexity on that palate. Some people have said they find 2005 Rhone wines to be too tough and hard work, but there is no hint of that on this wine. The palate does have some big tannins, but they are ripe and give this wine great structure and personality. The length and complexity of the finish are quite delicious. If this wine is so good I can only imagine how the Grand Places (Clusel-Roch's prestige cuvée) would be. It does need a few more years to be showing at its best, but I feel it'll be well worth the wait.

After the 'Egly-Ouriet being nice' shocker it is good to get back to some reliably crap producers. The 'sub-interest' status of Santa Duc wines is forever assured. Of course, Robert Parker gave it 93 points (whatever the hell that means) and said it will age until 2018.

Gigondas "Prestige des Hautes Garrigues" 1998, Domaine Santa Duc
The nose smells of raw booze, strawberry jam and horrible, horrible rancid dirtiness. This is unbalanced and simply repulsive. The palate has a hot, booze-tastic burn and sweetness to it, soupy tannins (if they can even be called tannins) and a nasty flavour of rotting jam. Is it possible anyone could enjoy this monstrous horror? It has aged really badly and (let us be honest) was bloody dire when it was released, so please, let us drink something else and use this for burning grease stains off the garage floor.

I hosted a wine tasting last night, people didn't get as many right as I had hoped. Mind you, tasting Champagne is always really foxy, especially when, like these wines, they had a bit of cellar age on them. I had aged all three for three and a half years since I purchased them. The Cornas were both damned good.

Champagne Grand Siecle, Larent-Perrier
A lovely, polished complex nose, smells a bit of fishy Pinot and tinny, but mainly rich, complex, stylish aromas. This is a lot better than when it was fresh from the shelf. The palate was very complex and smooth, with a fine mousse and a good, long finish. This was quite delicious, well worth the £35 it cost.

Champagne Blanc de Blancs Grand Cru Brut, Billecart-Salmon
Quite anonymous on the nose. There is not much there apart from a bit of egg and toast. Age has made this less expressive; weird. The palate was very direct and linear, with a good creamy minerality and lots of nice fruit on the finish. However, it was a touch direct. I found it a bit hard work on the old stomach for not much reward.

Champagne Blanc de Noirs Grand Cru, Egly-Ouriet
Oh this is so difficult. Really hard. You see, the thing is every Egly-Ouriet wine I've had I've hated so I have sort of decided I hate Egly-Ouriet, yet this wine was truly excellent. It had a dense nose of red fruit and rich soiliness. Yet it still seemed very light and refined on the nose. Lovely complex flavours here. The palate had real weight, plenty of fruit, but great acidity and vivacity. The finish had a touch of meat about it, but the acidity and minerality were also present making this a lively, exciting wine. I am sure a bit of age helped it. This was quite delicious. Shame the wine is so expensive these days. Still, the only Egly-Ouriet wine I can recommend (up until now).

Cornas 1998, Clape
A lovely, herbal, meaty nose which strangely has a hint of arseholes about it. There is a hint of greenness, but loads and loads of lovely ripe fruit. A good grind of pepper is in there. It is extremely complex and not lacking any style. The palate has a huge tannic structure, interlaced with herbal pepperiness and masses of dark fruit. Very complex, but a tad angular. Great length, with real complexity on the finish. Quite delicious.

Cornas "Domaine de Rochepertuis" 1998, Jean Lionnet
Wow, what a nose! Silky, sexy ripe fruit, earth, pepper and bags of class. This smells polished and hedonistic. Real class here, and yet it is very Cornas. The palate has a lot of tannin, but it is very ripe and integrates with the bags of lovely, lovely fruit very well. Many flavours seemlessly play across your palate as you taste this. Not as angular as the Clape, but I suppose some pedants may not find this Cornasy enough. Excellent, up for drinking now over the next seven years.

It had been playing on my mind as to which Cornas would be better. Votes at the tasting were two each leaving me with the deciding vote. I have to say I lean toward the Lionnet. It just has a bit more class and style. Don't get me wrong I loved the Clape and thought it worth every penny, but the Lionnet is just a bit sexier. Half the price, too, not that these things matter so much on Elitist Review...

More Cornas, hooray! This one is from the grand-daddy of the appellation.

Cornas 2000, Noel Verset
Very stemmy on the nose, greenness with matchbox wood. There is a bit of sulphur about this. This sounds far worse than the wine actually is, though. It does smell typical and not short of style. There is a nice bitter cherry fruit to it. Proper Cornas tannins, slightly green and abrasive. Good acidity too, but this only adds to the fresh, bright fruit which is very pleasing. Good length. OK, this is a bit angular, but it is very good.

I'm back drinking, hooray! I've slept for the last two nights and I haven't thrown up in two days. This is excellent news, which together with the vast quantities of happy drugs I've been given have all worked together to put a big smile on my face.

Sadly this is the last vintage of Domaine de Rochepertuis; it is an excellent wine and it will be greatly missed. I have one bottle of the 1998 left, which will be opened soon. Eleven of the 2005 to go...

Cornas Domaine de Rochepertuis 2005, Jean Lionnet
A great, perfumed, scented nose of red fruit, earth and there is a hint of something floral about it. It is properly ripe on the nose, but the alcohol is completely in balance and there is nary a hint of jamminess to the lovely ripe fruit. This smells delicious, really complex and stylish. The palate is really ripe, with lovely fruit and a silky, stylish tannic structure. It is very polished and svelte, even though the tannins are definitely present and reasonably Cornas-y. The acidity is really quite good for such a ripe vintage. There is a bit of Syrah pepper there which is really nice. It is quite long, with a lot of different flavours on the finish which all integrate seemlessly into an exciting combination. This is very young, but it is a completely tits bottle of Cornas. I love it. This will age and age. With a damned good cellar this will be providing pleasure when it is twenty.

This smells really lovely, an excellent vintage from this excellent producer.

Crozes-Hermitage "La Guiraude" 2005, Alain Graillot
What a nose! Luxurious ripe fruit, real earthy complexity and flashes of Crozes cheap cologne. This is a totally attractive and utterly lovely nose, and this is 'mere' Crozes, triple-tmesis-A. The palate has really nice fruit, a lovely spicy/pepper character and a refined tannic structure. It has a nice Croze-y greenness on the finish, which is really satisfying. This might be ripe, but it is perfectly balanced and very refined. And very, very stylish. Alain Graillot is a cool geezer, alright.

This is raw booze. Sometimes that is nice, but this is just a bit too fiery and far too dull.

Lirac "La Reine des Bois" 2005, Domaine de la Mordoree
Incredibly dark. A hot nose of stewed fruit, not fresh in the slightest. It has some spiciness, too, but is mostly characterised by a shit-load of alcohol. I suppose my anaesthetised nose can just detect a bit of earthiness, but I wouldn't go as far as calling this complex, oh no. The palate is very hot and sweet with alcohol, with big, gum-busting tannins and some stewed fruit. And that, I am afraid to say, is very much it. No excitement here, move along please.

I have to say I've rarely got very much pleasure out of Mordoree wines, and yet I recommended this be purchased. I may be in touch with the deep message of wine but clearly I don't always pay attention when that message is "I'm a bloody awful bottle of lighter-fluid". I blame the beast of my Id, it just wants me drunk so I behave outrageously.

Steak mirabeau for dinner tonight, and with it something accessible and fruity.

Saint-Joseph "Les Royes" 2004, Domaine Courbis
A charming nose of fresh red fruit with a grind of pepper. It smells pretty simple but reasonably typical. The fruit is very nice but there really isn't that much else there. The palate has hint of Syrah spiciness, but largely it displays a lot of juicy fruit. There is some length to it, which is good. The flavours are quite simple, though. However, that is what you expect from Saint-Joseph, so I cannot really complain. It is perfectly adequate, but I feel I am going to get a bit bored with this after a couple of glasses. This ranks slightly above 'sub-interest', but not very far above that.

This is quite a fancy St. Joseph. I'm still drinking, hooray!

St. Joseph Cuvée des Anges 1999, Domaine Cheze
This has a very herbal fruit character, like cough sweets. There are ceps and earthy aromas with a very vague hint of bubblegum. But the nose is really good and complex, very expressive and interesting. Despite this style and complexity it still smells like a St. Joseph. Good. The palate has a very slightly angular structure and a prickle which is also very St. Joseph. It is still quite a serious wine, though. This is perfectly ready to drink and I will enjoy this as it develops in my glass. St. Joseph gets no better.

I've just opened another bottle of Domaine St. Pierre Cornas 1995 from Jaboulet. My last note on it seems pretty accurate to me, so I won't bother boring you by repeating more of the same. A couple of things are worth saying about this, though.

Firstly, this is a really svelte, silky and sexy Cornas. Lovely smooth fruit and a really charming tannic structure at a developmental stage that is certainly up for enjoying now. This is a truly lovely Cornas and should be enjoyed by all.

Secondly, it is really easy to enjoy this as it is a complete bargain from the Wine Society. At a shade under twenty notes a bottle I find it hard to think of a more pleasing and ready-to-drink wine that one can get quite so easily.

Clape Cornas was the subject of my first wine article to get published. I wanted to call it 'A dose of the Clape' but the journal editor re-named it 'Clape Clape - David Strange applauds a fine wine maker'. Clearly a lot less funny. I've had some lovely bottles of Clape over the years, they are always very typical (and good) examples of Cornas.

Cornas 1998, Auguste Clape
The nose is very Cornas; dark, ripe fruit, pepper, grilled meat and a certain rusticity. Even though this has a big nose it is not over-ripe, the fruit is fresh and lively and the alcohol is not excessive. There is a reasonable degree of earthy complexity there, too. It smells relatively youthful. The palate has big Cornas tannins but there is a lot of fruit there too; it is not unbalanced. The tannins have that touch of rusticity that one would expect from Cornas. Fruit persists on the finish, along with a good earthy flavour. The palate has complexity, but it is definitely a big, tannic wine rather than being svelte and refined. It is still pretty youthful and I think it will develop more over the next five or so years. This is a really good, typical Cornas, but I think I preferred the Domaine de Rochepertuis 1998 I had back in November, that was a more charming, silky wine.

We got a few bottles of this at auction a few years ago for less than the release price of the then-current vintage. Every bottle I have had has been in top condition so they were a damned-good purchase. There is a rib of beef roasting in the oven and what could be better with that than a glass or two of mature Hermitage?

Hermitage La Chapelle 1983, Paul Jaboulet-Ainé
A soft nose of mature plum and blueberry fruit, it has an aroma reminiscent of mature Port. Syrah pepperiness is still there. There is a great earthy character to it. It smells very ripe and decadent. The nose seems fully mature. The palate is a tiny bit dry, but there is still plenty of fruit there and it is very complex and earthy. Despite the obvious size and ripeness of this wine it has a degree of mature elegance that is very pleasing. Great length and complexity here too. This wine is fully mature and it is reaching time to drink, but it is still in good enough nick to provide a lot of pleasure. This is a lovely old bottle of wine, quite delicious and a real glass of hedonism.

The diet Coke in the background is the usual David Strange-fuel when I am not drinking fine wine.

Last time I had this wine I was presented it blind. Then I thought it was Alain Graillot's Crozes-Hermitage and tasting it again that seems like a very understandable mistake to make.

Cornas 2000, Noel Verset
The nose has a very strong cheap cologne character; very Crozes-y. There is a hint of greenness about it too, and some peppery, plummy fruit. It smells very earthy. From the smell alone I would guess this was reasonably mature Crozes-Hermitage. The palate also has plummy fruit, pepper and again a hint of greenness. It seems ripe enough, though. Good tannic structure. The finish is quite long, with fruit persisting. This is as mature as it is ever going to be, and whilst this is not a great vintage, it is an interesting, characterful wine.

I had this wine just before going into hospital. I've just found my note so I can finally publish it. I've got two more bottles of this wine in one of my cellars, a fact that pleases me very much. Burgaud is still a relative bargain when it comes to buying Côte-Rôtie, well worth looking out for.

Côte-Rôtie 1998, Bernard Burgaud
The nose is very elegant, with soft fruit and a pleasing earthiness. It smells very complex and refined, with no excess of alcohol showing. The taste? Delicious! Pure, ripe fruit, minerality and great length. The tannins are present but ripe and very well integrated. This is very refined and silky. I think Côte-Rôtie should be like this, harmonious, refined and elegant rather than being a butch monster. Quite ready for drinking, but it'll certainly last several more years with no problem. Excellent Côte-Rôtie that provides a lot of pleasure.

I went to Oxford today to visit my cellar and pick up some wines to drink over the next month or so. I got eighteen bottles and two magnums; pretty heavy on the way back. This is one (I've got more of this in the cellar. Good) which I have risked opening after the shaky journey from Oxford.

This is Jean Lionnet's prestige cuvée of Cornas, he makes a basic cuvée too. His wines tend to be less rustic than those of other Cornas producers.

Cornas Domaine de Rochepertuis 1998, Jean Lionnet
This has a lovely nose of grilled meat, leather and fresh, ripe blackcurrants. There is real complexity there and it smells very refined. The alcohol seems very well integrated and harmonious (claimed 13%). The palate has sophisticated tannins, plenty of fruit and a real persistence of flavour. For a Cornas this is really svelte and silky. This is just approaching drinkability, and will continue to provide pleasure for several years to come. Great Cornas.

The last bottle of this that I had seemed strangely backward. This is a lot more pleasurable.

Côte-Rôtie 1997, Jasmin
A lovely nose of ripe red fruit and earth. This seems fully mature on the nose and it has a truffle-y complexity to it. The palate has a soft, elegant entry, with plenty of ripe fruit. Initially it seems quite round, but there is a sting of acidity on the finish. It is not unbalanced, though. This is by no means a great bottle of Côte-Rôtie, but it is an interesting and nice drink.

I've popped my last bottle of Verset Cornas 1996. Just as with the bottle reviewed earlier this has painfully high acid levels, it is seriously unbalanced and not very nice. The levels of Brett are really distracting, too. No thanks.

The neighbour is after a drink tonight, this should do just fine.

Cornas Domaine de Rochepertuis 1997, Jean Lionnet
This has a nose of soft red fruit, with hints of chocolate and beetroot. It also smells warm and peppery. Perhaps there are hints of tiredness on the nose. Yes, it is a bit tired, the palate is a touch dry. However, it still has some nice red fruit, pepper and a reasonably sophisticated tannic structure (for Cornas, that is). It is perfectly drinkable, but perhaps would have been better a year or two ago. It'll function as an after-work drink with the neighbour with no complaints from me (and hopefully none from him).

Cornas is usually quite rough and masculine, this is a refined version.

Cornas Domaine Saint-Pierre 1995, Paul Jaboulet-Aine
The nose is silky with ripe, dark fruit. It has a good earthy character as well. It smells reasonably complex and perfectly mature, with a pleasing voluptuous character. There is a degree of masculinity on the palate, but it is very smooth and silky. Also quite sexy. The concentration and fruit are really good. This is a really good Cornas, mature but but still full of life. Yummy yummy, I like this.

We have popped another half bottle of Morey Premier Cru les Loups from Domaine des Lambrays; it is really terribly good. It has great elegance and refinement despite still being a bit closed. It is really silky and concentrated. This is lovely Burgundy. We've only got one more half left, alas.

I should say we opened this because the Santa Duc Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues 2003 we tried to drink with our steak proved to be too much like hard work. It was so frighteningly ripe and alcoholic that we could only manage a glass each before putting a cork back in it and deciding to re-visit it tomorrow. I don't really see the point in such monsters, they are rarely balanced or indeed nice.

Noel "The Gnome" Verset used to craft some wonderful Cornas from his steeply-sloped vineyards. Sadly, it appears this one suffers a bit from 1996 Rhône-syndrome.

Cornas 1996, Noel Verset
A very animal nose, meaty, sweaty and hairy. It is quite Brett-y. There is a bit of dark fruit underneath that. The palate has really rather high acidity levels that begin to hurt my stomach. What fruit there is on the palate is over-whelmed by this acidity and it is definitely out of balance. This is a bit strange as only a couple of months ago I had a bottle that was much nicer. Could it be that the obvious Brett in this wine has led to bottle-variation? Quite possibly; bottle variation is an oft-reported symptom of high Brett levels. Whatever has caused it, this is dirty, painfully acidic and sadly sub-interest.

Beaucastel smells of sheep shit, Bandol smells of arseholes; that is the way it is.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1995, Château de Beaucastel en magnum
Bright berry fruit, and dirty, slightly shitty nose. It is very rich and complex, with plenty of lovely flavours despite its filth content. Is this much Brett a flaw or acceptable? It is acceptable when it is in harmony with the wine, as in this wine. The palate has some big, drying tannins, but a lot of fruit. It is very complex, very earthy. The balance is quite delicious. Not short either. Perhaps a bit butch, and too shitty for some, but I rather like it. So do the friends.

Cheers!

I've had a lot of mixed experiences with 1996 Rhônes, this one is rather nice.

Cornas Domaine de Rochepertuis 1996, Jean Lionnet
Lovely bright fruit nose. Clean, ripe plums, with some earth. The palate has good acidity, but not the harsh acidity that a lot of 1996 Rhônes have. It has plenty of plummy fruit, nice, ripe tannins and good length. For a random bottle opened at a friend's place this seems rather lovely. Not super-fine, but a lovely, refined Cornas. As I have said before, I do like lovely.

The 1995 of this has been drinking marvellously over the past couple of years, I was rather surprised by this.

Côte-Rôtie 1997, Jasmin
The nose has very strong youthful Syrah beetroot characters. Also prune and some dark fruit. It smells very young. The palate is tight and closed. Not hard tannins but the fruit is locked up in a youthful core. It opened up a bit with vigorous oxygenation, but was basically really tight and backward. This wine is clearly still too young to drink, much to my surprise. I'll have to keep my other bottle for a few more years. It is a shame it was so tight, I was in the mood for something giving and charming.

When I purchased this I thought it seemed like a top vintage, time has proved me wrong. It is not bad, just not up to the standards of other vintages.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape 1994, Château Beaucastel
A soft, earthy nose. Some dark fruit there. Seems subdued and muted. The palate is quite dry and tastes very strongly of olive water, quite brine-y. There is fruit, and a bit of earthy richness, but this is basically on its way out. Much better than a bottle I had in the summer, that was completely past it, though. A nice old wine, but it has definitely been drawing its pension for a few years.

This was quite disappointing, not up to the required standard for here.

Cornas 1997, Clape
A nice nose of dark fruit and earth, but very dirty and bretty. The palate is angular and really filthy. Incredible levels of brett in this wine, it is very dirty indeed. There is not much else on the palate, hardly any fruit, and not much length. The nose promised some goodies, but the box was just empty. Very disappointing.

A nice bottle of wine last night, once again balance was key to its pleasure.

Côte-Rôtie Les Grandes Places 1997, Domaine Clusel-Roch
A ripe nose of dark fruit and some meat. It is quite ripe and earthy, but by no means over-ripe. It has a moderate alcohol content (claimed 12%). The nose is concentrated and round. The palate shows similar concentration and has a very round, complete finish. There is lots of ripe fruit, and it has a pleasing smoky bacon maturity to it. Nice and long, with a good tannic structure, and very well balanced. A very nice wine.

At the same time we opened the basic Clusel-Roch 1997. It was much lighter bodied, with higher acidity and a slightly raw edge to the tannins. This settled down with half an hour in the decanter, but the balance and concentration of the Grandes Places was much more pronounced. It was a good wine, but the Grandes Places was far more lovely and serious. Oddly, it also needed less decanting time.

There could well be plenty of Rhône wine notes over the coming months as I have just been back to my cellar in Oxford and picked out quite a few 1996 and 1997 Northern-Rhône wines.

Côte-Rôtie 1997, Bernard Burgaud
A soft nose of mature red fruit. It is ripe but by no means over-ripe; quite sedate, in fact. M. Burgaud says he aims for 'noble tannins' in his wine. This wine is certainly tannic, but those tannins have softened with time and the wine is most pleasingly soft and charming. It has plenty of red fruit on the palate, a balancing backbone of tannin and acidity and is quite long. This is not a great vintage, but the wine is quite lovely. Up for drinking, too.