There was plenty to like in a recent tasting of heavy-hitters from the Rhône valley, writes Joe Breen
I'm not a huge fan of the concept that every cloud has a silver lining, but when it comes to wine I'm open to persuasion. For instance, when France came to town recently to play rugby some of us licked our lips in anticipation - but for a different reason than most. Among the French supporters there stands many a vigernon - men such as Stephane Ogier, who once played for Ampuis. And they come laden with new wines from the Rhône, home of the fabled Côte Rotie, Hermitage and other Syrah exotica.
Though France won the match, the pubs clearly led the Irish revenge, to judge by the faces of the men lined up behind the tables in Mitchells's Kildare Street premises for Tyrrell & Company's 2007 Rhône Valley tasting. Here were some of the great new names in the Rhône - Stéphane Ogier, Yann Chave, Christophe Bonnefond, Stéphane Montez, Sebastien Vincenti and Serge Férigoule.
But it was with the wines of the fresh-faced Sylvain Chauderac's Château Domazan that we started our journey. Chauderac's wines are from the village of Signargues, the most southerly of all the communes in the Côtes du Rhône Villages appellation and also its most recent entrant - it was only allowed to join the AOC in 2005. It was a good year to join because as with almost everywhere else in France, 2005 was a memorable year in the southern Rhône.
Chauderac was showing two wines from the vintage, a basic Côtes du Rhône with vibrant dark fruit, and the more polished Côtes du Rhône Villages Signargues. Both were young and vigorous and are well worthy of investigation at €12.99 and €14.99 respectively.
Across the room at Stéphane Ogier's table, prices were not so accessible. This intense young man is building a substantial reputation as one of the real stars of the future in the northern Rhône. His sublime Côte Rotie La Belle Hélène 2003 (named in honour of his mother), produced in tiny quantities from 60-year-old vines, has achieved cult status and now fetches €145 a bottle.
Is it worth it? Well if you can afford that kind of money then of course it is. Ogier also makes wines of less rarefied breeding: his La Rosine Syrah Vin de Pays des Collines Rhôdaniennes 2005 (about €20) was still a little young, but showing berry intensity and polish.
Yann Chave (see bottles of the week) showed just four wines but they all enhanced his reputation, particularly the sweeping elegance of his Hermitage 2004 . Beside him, Christophe Bonnefond was equally select, and his three Côte Rôties were stunning in their finesse and depth of flavour. To cap it all he offered a Condrieu 2006 which had stunning marzipan and almond flavours.
But, surprisingly, it was the southern Rhône connection in the shape of Sébastine Vincenti of Domaine de Fondrèche and Serge Férigoule of Domaine le Sang des Cailloux which were, relatively speaking, the most impressive. Férigoule's wines will not be available in Ireland for a few weeks and we'll come to them then, but Vincenti's range of Côtes du Ventoux white and reds (see bottles of the week), made according to biodynamic principles, are really impressive, with dense, aromatic black fruit and great elegance.
Once again this tasting confirmed Simon Tyrrell's unerring ability to unearth the best of the Rhône valley.