1990 was a great vintage in the Rhône. This retrospective ‘horizontal’ tasting sought to provide a snapshot assessment of some good value and some top names wines from both the northern and southern Rhône.
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The tasting was divided into halves, with five northern Rhônes served blind and then revealed; followed by 5 Châteauneuf-du-Papes.
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Everyone knew what was in each flight - but not in which order.
There were some surprises of course – as there always are in a blind tasting. While both the Chave and the Jaboulet ‘La Chapelle’ scooped most votes for top northern Rhône, the August Clape Cornas got a number of votes in this category, and was my – and may others’ – top wine in this flight for current drinking. |
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It was the Châteauneuf-du-Papes that produced the biggest surprise. Some managed to spot the excellent Château de Beaucastel. However, it was not a runaway wine-of-the-flight amongnst all tasters. Half voted for this, and half for the Mont Redon (which really wasn’t to my taste).
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All in all it was good fun doing these blind, and we shall do some more in the format.
