Michel

October 15 , 2006

92.        Cornas La Geynale 2003

Jan/Feb 2006

Despite the tiny yields attained in 2003, Robert Michel is pleased with his results in this unique vintage.The material yielded wines that were extremely concentrated, he told me, and he emphasized that consumers who plan to drink these bottles anytime soon should open them far in advance.To make his point, he poured a bottle of the 2003 Geynale that had been open for a week, which he claimed he preferred to a fresh bottle.In 2004, Michel said, "conditions were ideal, making for wines of balance and elegance."(Rosenthal Wine Merchant, Pine Plains, NY)

2004 Domaine Robert Michel Saint Joseph Le Bois des Blaches 87-89

Dark red. Pungent, floral aromas of red berries, minerals, rose and violet. Fresh and lively in the mouth, with a tangy red berry quality complicated by notes of cured meat and black pepper. Nicely balanced, fresh and gently textured Saint-Joseph, finishing with a note of raspberry.

2004 Domaine Robert Michel Cornas Cuvee des Coteaux 88-90

Deep, bright red. Intensely spicy and red-fruit dominated bouquet shows a pungent note of licorice. Sweet and floral on the palate, with a silky, pinot noir-like texture and good concentration. This builds in intensity on the sweet, lush finish, the tannins framing but not clashing with the fruit.

2004 Domaine Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale 90-92

Red-ruby. Rich, smoky aromas of dark berry preserves, plum and bitter cherry. Full and rich in the mouth, with exotic baking spices accenting the lush fruit tones. Shows a youthful crushed berry character on the firmly tannic finish. Very young but quite promising.

2004 Domaine Yves Cuilleron St. Joseph Les Pierres Seches 86-88?

($25) Dark red. High-pitched aromas of rose and dried herbs. Very tangy but a bit pinched on the palate, with flavors of wild strawberry and rhubarb. Slightly hard-edged finish offers tangy red berry fruits and fine tannins.

2003 Domaine Robert Michel Cornas Cuvee des Coteaux 90

($45) Deep red color. Assertive raspberry and strawberry aromas, with a floral element adding brightness. Lively and energetic on the palate, showing flavors of fresh red berries and cherry cola. A medium-weight wine that finishes with gentle tannins and subtle suggestions of baking spices.

2003 Domaine Robert Michel Cornas La Geynale 92

($60) Medium red. Rich, exotic and full on the nose, with scents of creme de cassis, dark chocolate and fresh tobacco. Powerful and deeply concentrated, displaying serious ripeness and dense dark fruit flavors that are still rather folded in on themselves. Finishes with a powerful, persistent flavor of blackberry.

September 30, 2005

87. Robert Michel. Cornas Cuvee des Coteaux 2002.

Lovely nose of pepper, lavender and black cherry, with those flavors following through to a minerally, tobacco-tinged finish. An elegant effort in a tough year. Drink now through 2006. 100 cases imported.
-J.M.

Jan/Feb 2004

Cornas "La Geynale" 2001 90

Bright, saturated ruby-red. Superripe nose combines dark berries, black licorice, tar and gunflint. Chewy, dense and powerful, with strong peppery character but also good sweetness of fruit. With aeration, this showed gunflint and black olive notes and an increasingly tactile texture. Considerably more tannic than the Cuvee des Coteaux, but also much richer than it appeared to be when I tasted it just after the bottling last fall.

Cornas "Cuvee des Coteaux" 2001 88

Medium red. Aromas of raspberry, mint and black pepper. Supple, shapely and nicely aromatic in the mouth, with flavors of raw berries, pepper and spices. Rather elegantly styled Cornas with a sappy finish.

Jan/Feb 2003

Michel brought in grapes high in sugar in 2001, with nothing lower than 12.8% and some fruit as high as 14%. He describes his young 2001s as halfway between 2000 and 1999 in style. They're solid, elegant wines with moderately ripe skins," he told me. But to this point they haven't displayed the ripeness and personality you'd expect from grapes so high in sugar; they've also been a bit severe. In comparison, the 2000s have more personality; they're more commercial." The 2001s I tasted had been bottled a week prior to my visit; there will be later, unfiltered bottlings for the U.S. importer.

Cornas "La Geynale" 2001 87(+?)

Moderately saturated ruby-red. Very spicy, pure aromas of raw crushed blueberry and blackberry; Michel maintained that the spiciness does not come from new oak. Suppler, denser, fuller and sweeter than the Cuvee des Coteaux, but still in a distinctly solid style. Perfumed on the back end, with notes of bitter chocolate and licorice and substantial oak tannins. I'd give this bottle about six years of aging.

Cornas "Cuvee des Coteaux" 2000 86

(U.S. cuvee) Good medium ruby. Black raspberry jam and dark chocolate on the slightly porty nose. Dense and sweet, with slightly cooked flavors of blackberry, blueberry, violet and dark chocolate. Chewy but not tough.

Cornas "La Geynale" 2000 87

Good full medium ruby. Superripe aromas of roasted cassis, maple syrup, bitter chocolate, mocha and menthol. Then thick, chewy and peppery, with an impression of very low acidity. Lush, palate-coating tannins nicely covered by fruit. This wine has an extremely high pH and seems less vibrant than the Cuvee des Coteaux. Michel notes that the wine came from withered, fletri grapes. "It's a style that gives pleasure early, but you can't hold a wine like this for more than ten years," he said.

Jan/Feb 2002

Michel describes 1999 as "a major year, one with great structure." The 2000 vintage, he adds, is more in the style of 1997, but with more material. "Still, in terms of balance and structure, it can't equal '99." Grape sugars were as high as 13.4% in '99 and reached the freakish level of 14.2% in '00.

Saint Joseph 2000 86-88

Ruby-red. Perfumed, minerally nose. Juicy and intense, with expressive strawberry, raspberry and redcurrant fruit flavors nicely firmed by the wine's stony minerality. "My best Saint-Joseph ever," said Michel, who picked these vines three weeks after his Cornas holdings, at about 12% potential alcohol, which he described as unusually high for these south- and east-facing parcels high on a granite hillside.

Cornas "Cuvee des Coteaux" 2000 85-87

Medium ruby-red. Sappy, high-toned aromas of maraschino cherry, bitter chocolate and espresso. Fat and silky in the mouth, with the distinctly high-toned impression carrying through. Flavorsof sweet cherry, chocolate and liqueur de prune Has texture and sweetness, and plenty of tannins, but the wine's apparent volatile elements suggests it will be best suited for early drinking.

Cornas "La Geynale" 2000 87-89

Sweeter, brighter aromas of spicy red fruits. More tightly wrapped in the mouth; more peppery and less reduced. Quite oaky on the end, but this component will add dimension to the blend.

Cornas "Cuvee des Coteaux" 1999 86

Moderately saturated ruby-red. Sappy aromas of cherry and red berry syrup, with a suggestion of toast. Juicy but a bit tight; seems a bit dry in the middle and on the end. This may have been bottled a bit late.

Cornas "La Geynale" 1999 90

Saturated ruby-red. Sappy, high-toned aromas of black cherry, blackberry, blueberry and minerals. Dense, structured and juicy; powerful and full but quite perfumed in the mouth. Aromatic flavors of blueberry, blackberry and cassis. This really has fruit of steel. Finishes very long and subtle, with big, broad tannins coming late. Michel compares this wine to the 1991 version. Very strong juice.

Jan/Feb 2001

Michel describes his '99 Cornas as powerful but lush, in the style of '91, while '98 is "a big brute". "In 99, only one cuvee required chapalization", said Michel, and despite the full yields of the vintage, the Geynale had the sheer fruit to support a bit of new oak. Michel bottled the '98s without fining or filtration.

Cornas "Cuvee des Coteaux" 1999 85 - 87

Medium-deep red. Spicy, perfumed aromas of cherry, strawberry and milk chocolate; rather pinot-like. Juicy but on the lean side, with modest density and structure. But fresh and aromatic in the mouth.

Cornas "La Geynale" 1999 88 - 91

Red-ruby. Perfumed aromas of smoky black raspberry and black cherry. Distinctly sweeter and denser than the Cuvee des Coteaux, but with excellent freshness and vinosity. Strong, nicely defined flavors cherry and red berries. This is about 25% new oak: Michel used a new 600-liter tonneau. Finishes with dusty, even tannins.