I love it when the new vintage of Coudert's Fleurie "Cuvee Tardive" drops. Like when the new De La 12" dropped back in the day. One of the few verticals in my cellar and damn proud of every bottle I own. No it's not a vertical of La Mish, Drouhin Moose, Haut-Brion, or La Tache but in twenty years I can be the wine geek that shows up at the tasting with a lovely bottle of the 2006 Clos de Roilette Fleurie "Cuvee Tardive" and be the man. The vines that go into this are the oldest on the property and the aging regimen is in old oak barrels, and if I am wrong I am sure Joe or Joe will correct me. Those damn pedants. Anywho, onto the wine. Opened last night, this is in the same vein as the 2004, 2001, and 1998. Not as fleshy or as dark-fruited as the 1999, 2002 or 2005 but just as delicious. There is a freshness to this wine that I always find so appealing and it is here in spades. Just like it was in the 2004 and the 2001. Almost like a perfectly ripe red delicious apple kind of freshness. The purity is astonishing as usual as well as the delineation and depth. Crunchy red fruits galore with cleansing acidity. Lots of it too! The aromas are classic Tardive with a tons of clove, cardamon, cinnamon, apple orchard, cherries and wet earth. Just a symphony of Gamay. So crunchy and perfectly balanced. No hard edges here. A great Tardive and one to buy at least four bottles of and maybe more. Seems like it can be a 10-15 year Tardive. Will try one again in 4-6 months as it still needs to flesh out a bit.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
A yearly tradition: The assessment of the latest vintage of Clos de la Roilette "Cuvee Tardive"
I love it when the new vintage of Coudert's Fleurie "Cuvee Tardive" drops. Like when the new De La 12" dropped back in the day. One of the few verticals in my cellar and damn proud of every bottle I own. No it's not a vertical of La Mish, Drouhin Moose, Haut-Brion, or La Tache but in twenty years I can be the wine geek that shows up at the tasting with a lovely bottle of the 2006 Clos de Roilette Fleurie "Cuvee Tardive" and be the man. The vines that go into this are the oldest on the property and the aging regimen is in old oak barrels, and if I am wrong I am sure Joe or Joe will correct me. Those damn pedants. Anywho, onto the wine. Opened last night, this is in the same vein as the 2004, 2001, and 1998. Not as fleshy or as dark-fruited as the 1999, 2002 or 2005 but just as delicious. There is a freshness to this wine that I always find so appealing and it is here in spades. Just like it was in the 2004 and the 2001. Almost like a perfectly ripe red delicious apple kind of freshness. The purity is astonishing as usual as well as the delineation and depth. Crunchy red fruits galore with cleansing acidity. Lots of it too! The aromas are classic Tardive with a tons of clove, cardamon, cinnamon, apple orchard, cherries and wet earth. Just a symphony of Gamay. So crunchy and perfectly balanced. No hard edges here. A great Tardive and one to buy at least four bottles of and maybe more. Seems like it can be a 10-15 year Tardive. Will try one again in 4-6 months as it still needs to flesh out a bit.
Thanks for the report. I haven't had this one yet, but I thought the '06 non-Tardive bottling was really outstanding.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree on the quality of the 2006 regular cuvee.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the above -- the regular is wonderful this year. Is the tardive at that level? I liked last year's tardive better, of the two.
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