Northern Rhone Valley

Question 1

Alain Graillot

Answer 1

Crozes Hermitage - Hermitage- St Joseph
- Crozes-Hermitage “La Guiraude”:
a barrel selection, bottled only in top years. Inaugural Vintage 1988.
- Traditional and modern approach: ripe fruit, but only 10% of new oak is used

Question 2

Alain Voge

Answer 2

• Cornas
  Today Alain releases many different
  cuvées, which are typically based on vine age and oak treatment.
  Voge red wines are solid modern expressions of Cornas terroir.
• Cornas Chailles; Cornas Vielles Vignes

Question 3

Auguste Clape

Answer 3

Top Wine produced:
Cornas: assemblage from 12 parcels.
Cornas Reinaissance: assemblage (age average 12-20 y).
- Clape is an example of a traditional approach to winemaking in the Northern Rhône.
- Aging for the Cornas bottlings is 22 months in old 6- and 12-hl foudres.

Question 4

Bernard Levet

Answer 4

Cote Rotie
Chavaroche: 40y old vineyard
Cote Brune - Cote Blonde
La Landonne
Traditional: wines are aged 3 years in oak. Mixed Casks.

Question 5

Chateau Grillet

Answer 5

3.5 ha Viognier
- Primary fermentation takes place in a combination of stainless steel tank and barrel. The wine is aged in barrel for 18months, with about 20% new oak each year.

Question 6

Domaine Jamet

Answer 6

Cote Brune, Cote Blonde, Cote Rozier, Lancement, La Landonne, La Gerine.
- For many people, Domaine Jamet is THE reference point for classically styled Côte-Rôtie.
- Fermentation in stainless steel tank, wines are aged in barrels for 18-22 months (Maximum 20% new oak).

Question 7

E. Guigal

Answer 7

Founded in 1946
La Turque, La Mouline *1966), La Landonne *1978), Chateau d’Ampuis *1995).
Modern, Pioneer.
Lush, ripe fruit, long aging in new barriques.

Question 8

Frank Balthazar

Answer 8

Cornas
Traditional style
No yeast are added, no destemming, aging in old demi-muids. Wines are fined but not filtered.

Question 9

Georges Vernay

Answer 9

Condrieu
Legendary figure, rescued the appellation in 1965.
Condrieu Terraces de l’Empire, Condrieu Chailles de l’Enfer, Condrieu Coteau du Vernon.
Modern, destemming.

Question 10

Jasmin

Answer 10

Ampuis, Cote Rotie
- Jasmin aims to produce a fairly traditional style of Côte-Rôtie, being no big fan of the fashion for very ripe, oak-laden wines.
20% new oak, aging for 18-20 months.

Question 11

Jean Louis Chave

Answer 11

• established since 1481
  Les Bessards, Ermitage Cuvee Cathelin.
  -The strength of the domaine lies in the diversity of their holdings across the hill of Hermitage and the family’s mastery of blending, passed down from generation to generation.

Question 12

Chapoutier

Answer 12

L’Ermite, Le Meal, Le Pavillon.
The Chapoutier wines are very modern and bold in flavor, all wines being the product of low yields in the vineyard and very late harvesting, with strong oak signatures.

Question 13

Ogier

Answer 13

Cote Rotie
La Belle Helene, Lancement.
Modern, new oak.
The wines are aged in barriques (0-20%new for the vins de pays; and 50-100% new for “La Belle Hélène” and “Lancement”). The wines are not filtered at bottling.

Question 14

Rene Rostang

Answer 14

Cote Rotie, Condrieu
Cuvee Ampodium, La Landonne (Old vines),
Cote Blonde.
Rostaing produces elegant and long-lived Côte-Rôties.
The wines are aged half in barriques and half in demi-muids. The percentage of new oak is less than 20% each vintage, and the élevage lasts 18-24 months, depending on vintage.

Question 15

Yves Cuilleron

Answer 15

The Cuilleron wines are all produced from vineyards the familyowns or leases.
Cote Rotie Bassenon, Madiniere, Terre Sombres. Wines are bold and modern.
The reds are partially de-stemmed, vinified in stainless steel with frequent
remontage
and
pigeage
, and aged 18-20 months in barriques

Question 16

Thierry Allemand

Answer 16

Cornas
Cornas Reynard, Chaillot, Sans Souffre.
The approach at Allemand is traditional. Viticulture is organic and the yields have historically been low. The wines are not de-stemmed, and all
pigeage
is done twice daily by foot. The wines are aged in either old 228-liter barriques, 600-liter demi-muids, or larger 9-hl foudres; they are not racked and are bottled after 18-24 months in wood.