- Only 70 Cases Produced
- The Grandiosity of a Batard-Montrachet
- The Complexity of Dry Rheinhessen Riesling
- Sexiness and Texture from 80+ Year Old Marsanne Vines
- Nose: Big Ripe Pears, Tangelo, Honeydew
- Palate: So Much Pear and Hazelnut
- Incredible Acidity, Structure and Length
- Grandiose Profile
- Will Age Like Hermitage Blanc; 20-25 Years Ahead of It
2018 Remy Nodin St. Joseph "Guilherand"
- Very Rare - Only 120 Cases Made
- These Are Selling Out Fast (I Missed the 2017)
- Nose: Granite-Infused Berry Bomb.
- Olives, Licorice, Cherries, Blackberries, Granite
- Palate: Stunning Levels of Precision and Refinement
- Unreal Silky Texture
- Incredible Granite-Infused Minerality
If there is one thing that I love about having and running Fass Selections is that I never have stopped learning about wine. Learning was always going to be a part of whatever career I decided on as because early on I was obviously obsessed with attaining knowledge and perhaps even more obsessed with sharing it. Before wine it was going to be art history, selling and extolling the virtues of some unknown Renaissance painter. "You want Da Vinci? Sure, you can spend 45 billion on a Da Vinci, but, what, what if I told you about "Artist X" for 10 billion and is all kinds of more aesthetically pleasing than regular old Da Vinci. Trust me." And that right there is kind of what today's E-Mail is all about. You could get Da Vinci, but today I want to sell you something else. Much cheaper, relatively perhaps better, and just as interesting, if not more because it is somewhat novel.
2016 and 2017 are the two greatest back to back vintages for white wine in the Northern Rhone. 16 is electric and 17 is more fleshy. 2016 is more nuanced and 2017 has more girth and richness but is also energetic and dynamic.
Today I have the 2017 Remy Nodin St. Peray "Vieilles Vignes Le Suchat" for as little as $46.99 on a 3-pack. In 2017, I can safely say this CRUSHES the 2014 which was last still one I offered.
The 2014 is one of my favorite whites in the book, but 2017 with the extra uptick in energy and richness, adds another dimension to this wine that was not there in 2014. Also Remy is a better winemaker and the vines are a bit older. A little bit of energy goes along way when it comes to Marsanne.
Think of the grandiosity of a Batard-Montrachet, with the complexity of dry Rheinhessen Riesling from a ripe vintage and all the sexiness and texture that comes from 80+ year old Marsanne vines in St. Peray. I think the limestone gives this wine energy and acidity that is so hard to find in White Rhone. It also gives it uncanny freshness.
Nose. Exceptionally pungent and clean, funky and mineral Marsanne nose. Big ripe pears, tangelo and some honeydew melon. So vivid. Loads of florals as well with air and insane smokey minerals. Lemon and vanilla are also intertwined. Will blow you away as it's such a heavenly, exotic and unique perfume.
So much pear and hazelnut on the palate and incredible acidity, structure and length that just echoes on the palate. It is so rich yet so delicate and the flavor intensity is so grandiose. It is crunchy and oh so juicy but exotic as well with terrific inner mouth ginger and other savory and tea-like and honeysuckle aromas. Plus some florals.
The finish is super focused with ridiculous energy, sap and structure. It's so pure, so long and incisively mineral. You have never had anything like this. St. Peray, if grown by the right grower, on the right soils, in the right vintage, can really be one of the world's great white dry table wines and akin to great Hermitage Blanc, which this one is. This is as compelling as a wine as I have sold at Fass Selections. This is a wine that via 3 tiers would make no sense as it would be $75 for St. Peray (although the 17 is insane and I would easily pay that price). At my price it's worth giving it a shot and I guarantee you will not be dissapointed. This will age like Hermitage Blanc and has 20-25 years ahead of it. Maybe longer! Do not miss this.
When it comes to Marsanne and specifically Marsanne in St. Peray you want a high limestone content. If one has that high limestone content it magically transforms the wine to something that has very good acidity and trueness and St. Peray can perhaps a bit flat if grown on granite. The limestone imparts and electric type of minerality and combined with the moderate acidity of old vine Marsanne, you have an absolute dazzling elixir by easily one of the HOT young talents in the Rhone and this is his signature white wine. From Marsanne vines planted in 1936. This is VERY limited. What isn't?
It is from "Le Suchat" which is a small (0.3 hectare, 849 bottles produced) galet (rolled stone) covered limestone vineyard. It is SW facing and is raised in 60% New and 40% 1-4 year old wood.
Up next I have the 5th vintage of Remy Nodin's rare and extremely limited St. Joseph, the 2018 Remy Nodin St. Joseph "Guilherand" for as little as $29.99 a bottle on a 4-pack. It is amazing in 2018 and has nuclear levels of fruit and insane melty tannins. It's so decadent but insanely fresh. He only made 1,500 bottles in 2018. As a result of the small quantities, I will not pump this up as much, even though it is as good if not better than the Cornas in 2018. The 2016 was sold out in a flash and the 2017 was sold out even quicker that I I didn't have a chance to offer it. This is that much better IMHO than the 2016 and will be allocated if it comes to that.
What a nose. Such a granite infused berry bomb. Olives, licorice, cherries, blackberries, and of course granite. The black berries get blacker as it airs and there is also black cherry and gamey green and black olive herbal aromas. Mint and menthol. So complex. So perfumed and will only improve with time. I
On the palate, it has unreal freshness and such deep dark fruit with such refinement and purity. In 17 and 18 Remy has nailed the refinement and precision for his red wines. They are so pretty and so precise now. The fruit here is darker than the Crozes and has wonderful licorice, black cherry and ripe and sappy blackberries. Oh and those insane 2018 MELTY tannins. Man does this take over your palate with unreal silky texture along with such vivid almost black fruits but still with a streak of red in them. Like the emo girl who has blonde hair with just a streak of red. Just dazzling purity on this. The wine has so much granite-infused minerality all over these slabs of dark fresh fruit. It truly is an experience. The tannins are suave, MELTY, silky and fan out on the ridiculously long finish. It has wonderful freshness, structure and depth. Incredible, decadent concentration and such wonderful depth to this. I marked this up a bit so with the tariff it's only a few dollars more than it would normally be. This is an INSANE value.
2017 Remy Nodin St Peray "Vieilles Vignes Le Suchat" - $48.99
($140.97 3-Pack) (*Including tariff of $5.26)
2019 Remy Nodin St. Joseph "Guilherand" - $31.99
($119.96 4-pack) (*Including tariff of $2.97)
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