Thierry Allemand

Hermitage Hill in Tain

Valrhona Choclate It was a cold and wet trip back from Burgundy…we eventually left the Auto Route near Tain. We had visited here earlier in the week, so the sight of Hermitage Hill was familiar, but still impressive. On our drive through town we gave an assenting nod toward Valrhona Chocolate, which proved worthy of their lofty reputation…no tour of the facility, but the retail shop, complete with samples and a comparative tasting of their various chocolates was a delicious, contenting sort of stop.

From Tain, we ventured on to Cornas for our scheduled appointment with Thierry Allemand. I looked forward to this visit, not just because of the buzz that surrounded the wines, but all the more so because I had actually been able to sample some in the previous week – I was thoroughly impressed.

The night before departing for Europe, Mike felt compelled to open a bottle…

2000 Allemand Cornas "Chaillot" – quite dark in color. The nose shows a thick perfume of blackberry and cassis. The palate follows right along, presenting rich, dark, black fruit – in some ways incredibly heavy, but beautiful. Initial impressions changed as the bouquet added meat, animal fur and scents from a cold mountain stream – plenty of minerals. The powerful band of tannins slid from the attack, and fortified themselves at the back end of the wine…good, vital acids. Cold, hard stones became a constant feature – the very core of the wine…as this aspect rose, the thickness of the fruit rolled back to more "reasonable" proportions. This is young, powerful, but very intriguing wine…incredibly fun to drink if you can handle the tannins.

At lunch, on the earlier trip to Tain…

2000 Allemand Cornas "Sans Soufre" – served up with a plate of pungent local andouillette (that could easily have one confusing the terms "offal" and "awful") and lentils…this wine really made the meal. Fresh and ripe black fruit scents, along with floral tones, light spice and stones. Strong and taut black fruit flavors are encased by a shell of granite…brambly/forest floor tones… the acids give it a bright and easy notion. The tannins are certainly there, but the pure fruit easily offsets any problems. Try as we might to savor it in an uber-geek sort of fashion, four of us gleefully gulped it down. Delicious!

In addition, there was also the previously mentioned late night bottle of 2000 sans Soufree…yet another bottle of SS was sampled at this year’s conclave in Toledo.

Consulting Remington Norman’s "Rhone Renaissance" (1996), he lists Allemand’s vineyard holdings as 1.1 Hectares in Chaillot and La Cote (all under 25 years of age) and .9 Hectares of Reynard (70 years or older…formerly used by Verset). His first year of production in 1982 resulted in about 300 bottles, though by 1996 production was closer to 8000 bottles "in a good year".

We arrived to find Thierry entertaining two visiting wine makers associated with Tin Shed in (Eden Valley) Australia. Not unlike his wines, Allemand had a bit of an edge to him...seeming more proud of the wines themselves, than the accolades that have recently come his way. He was full of zeal and intensity, but still flashed a reassuring, wry smile. Though the bottles were flying fast and furious, he seemed genuinely interested in our comments on the wines…enticing us to "guess the vintage" from a number of unlabeled bottles. When our time started to run short, I was pressed into service to pour and "explain" the wines to our later arriving friends David Seidner and P-Mac (Phil MacDonald). As usual Mike did a fine job of communicating our impressions in French.

During our discussion with Thierry Allemand (left), we learned that all of his wines see very little added sulfur, but those known as "Sans Soufree" see no added sulfur. He now uses his finest Reynard in the SS, but in years past he has used Chaillot. He feels the Sans Soufree is "fresh enough" so as to encourage earlier consumption, but certainly they too should age nicely. He employs some new casks, but uses far more old cask and stainless.

2001 Chaillot – it has pronounced notes of violets and granite, along with lighter chocolate elements…plenty of dark earth and herbs. Deep black fruit flavor – pure and intense…a dark earth and mineral core…solid throughout, but sweetening at the finish. Tannins well in the back of the palate -- hard but not overbearing. The rise of acid in the center is the structural component that seems most obvious at present…no doubt it is a young, evolving wine.

2001 Reynard – the nose seems rather tight and reserved…most of the scents are in the mint/herbal/earthy spectrum. The first sip is soft up front, featuring plenty of black plum fruit, earth and herbs, but then rapidly closes down. Granite and ash leave a bit of resonance on the finish. The structure is not crushing, but certainly dominating the wine with its quick twitch, tannic muscle. This Reynard will likely need a lengthy rest in the cellar.

2001 Sans Soufree – the nose features brown spice, cocoa powder and light herbs…a bit dusty. This is not as immediately fruit forward as is the ’00 SS, but more soft, smooth and silky at this stage. Ripe, round black fruit flavors, along with a dose of black coffee (one sugar), cocoa and the typical mineral core. The tannins are strong, though clearly having less sway than in some of the other young wines. There seems to be fine balance in the components.

1997 Sans Soufree – scents of flowers, roasting meat, blackberries and plums. The black fruit has a sense of being fleshy and vibrant, yet slightly more "tame", or perhaps reserved than the 01’s…as is the case in all the wines tried to this point, they possess a striking minerality, strong tannins and "plus acidity". It has familiar note of strong coffee toward the finish. I guessed this to be perhaps a 1998. Mike wanted the record to plainly state that he guessed 1991 – his thinking on this one (and with some of the other older models) was that they were still vital with fruit, but showed significant evolution in how the structure integrated with the whole wine. These unsulphured bottlings have a deceptive freshness about them…perhaps off setting some of the powerful tannin issues at a younger bottle age.

1994 Chaillot (from a magnum) – this has an interesting nose of earth, tomato paste and herbs, along with red spectrum fruits. It is wet and juicy on the entry with red currant and cherry fruit flavors riding a good wave of fresh acids…strong through the middle, where it adds plenty of granite, herbs and a slight salinity. Tannins are broad and taut as the wine comes to a close…leaving a note of bacon and roasted elements amidst the long finish. Mike guessed "88", probably again believing more years were needed to shed the tannins…my original thought was "95", but when Thierry told us it was a "poor vintage", I wondered if this might be an overachieving "92"…he seemed good enough to pull that off.

1994 Sans Soufree – offering up a slight funk, along with leather and rich earth initially…from there it moves toward black tea, boysenberry and a medicinal note. Mike noted a "Ben Gay" sort of element. Soft at first but then acids move up to propel the juicy black fruit. Tannins engage through the middle but the juice, herb and rock combo seem to soften the grip with each passing minute. This wine has rounder, perhaps cleaner presentation of fruit that all the previous samples. It is very long on the finish, bringing in plenty of mineral, meat, and a light floral garrigue. This has plenty of room for further positive development, but it was the first sample that showed any hint of what bottle age might offer these wines. A very bright future lies ahead. ===>

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