Day 1 in the Northern Rhône—Côte-Rôtie, St.-Joseph and More
Visits with Georges Vernay, Pierre-Jean Villa, Julien Pilon, Yves Gangloff and Jean-Michel Gerin
Posted: Apr 14, 2011 1:05pm ET
I’ve made quite a shift in gears following two weeks in Bordeaux as I’m now in my old stomping grounds in the Rhône Valley. Tastings here are a more casual affair, done usually in the cave, with samples drawn straight from barrel, as opposed to the more formal tasting rooms and pre-prepared samples that are typical at Bordeaux châteaus. I’m getting a good deal of teasing from the local vignerons too, about my new tasting responsibilities.
“Hopefully you’ll give them good marks and they’ll raise prices 40 percent,“ joked one Rhône vigneron. “Then we can raise ours 20 percent and look like a bargain.”
Today I visited Georges Vernay, Pierre-Jean Villa, Julien Pilon, Yves Gangloff and Jean-Michel Gerin for tastes of the next vintages of Côte-Rôtie, St.-Joseph, Condrieu and more. Here are my notes.
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