Côte-Rôtie ’La Landonne’ - Syrah (19) JMG

Syrah | Lieu-dit La Landonne 0,4ha | zuidelijke expositie | stokken geplant in 1989 en 1991 | rijping voor 40% op nieuw hout en 60% op 1 en 2 jaar oude vaten voor 22 maanden | grote wijngaard! | Top in Côte-Rôtie | donker | olijf | kersen | rokerig 

La Landonne

La Landonne sits on the northern edge of Ampuis, the first vineyard to the left after leaving the town’s brief main stretch. The historic heart of Côte-Rôtie is commonly divided into the Côtes Brune and Blonde, named, according to legend, after the blond and brunette daughters of the feudal lord Maugiron and the two adjacent hillsides offered as their respective dowries. (Confusingly, both Côte Blonde and Côte Brune are also smaller, registered lieux-dits.) The metaphor extends to the quality of the wines themselves. The vines in the Côte Blonde are planted in soils with a greater limestone content, offering softer, more delicate Syrah, often with a contribution of Viognier. Just south, Côte Brune’s Syrahs are darker, more muscular, and grounded in iron-rich schist—qualities amplified in La Landonne, which is found on the Brune side.

With a southeasterly exposition, the vineyard slants a steep 45 degrees. Just a stone’s throw from the Rhône, it is burrowed at the bottom of the slope and rises between elevations of 175 and 275 meters. Still, the precipitous incline makes for Landonne’s greatest challenges in farming. “Imagine running around in this vineyard with 25 kilograms on your back when it’s about 30 degrees [Celsius],” explains Delas winemaker Claire Darnaud-McKerrow of their spraying regimen, which repeats every 10 days into the blistering summer months. To assist with harvest, Guigal has every third row spaced wider to accommodate a pulley system, onto which pickers can load their grapes. Workers start at the bottom of the hill and climb upward, as it’s easier to see the grapes from below than above.

The schist soils demonstrate high manganese and iron oxide content and are rather sturdy against erosion. “You don’t really need the terraces in La Landonne,” says Philippe Guigal. “The same vineyard in Côte Blonde wouldn’t work because of the soil. As soon as there would be rain—whoosh, everything would be washed down.” This holds particularly true in the northern half of La Landonne, where parcels drape uninterrupted from top to bottom. Guigal owns the near whole of this portion, except for Gérard’s block, in addition to a diminutive sliver siphoned off on the opposite side of the Route de Rozier, which follows the path of an old Roman road. The very northern tail was planted by Guigal in 1985 and makes a concave bend that further traps heat. The southern portion of the lieu-dit is more diverse in ownership and much more serpentine, with ancient terraces; Gerin has spent the past decade repairing its share. Like most of the Côte Brune, Landonne’s soil lends itself best to Syrah, and no Viognier is cultivated nor included in its wines. Skins grow thicker here than elsewhere in Côte-Rôtie, and the small berries remind Darnaud-McKerrow of what she often observes in Delas’ old parcels on the Hermitage hill. (GuildSomm)

JM Gerin

12 hectare tellend domein in het Noorden van de Rhône, midden in het hart van de Côte Rotie in Ampuis, iets ten zuiden van Lyon. Inmiddels de 6e generatie, maar het was pas in 1983 dat Gerin begon in de Côte-Rôtie en het duurde tot 1987 voor de eerste Gerin wijn op de markt kwam. Jean-Michel Gerin's focus lag vanaf het begin op de expressie van de individuele terroirs waardoor hij in 1988 met zijn eerste single vineyard wijn op de markt kwam 'Les Grandes Places' gevolgd door 'La Landonne' in 1996. Het domein wordt tegenwoordig geleid door het dynamische en gepassioneerde echtpaar Gerin en hun twee zonen.

Domaine Jean-Michel Gerin staat voor de heropleving van de Côte Rôtie en Condrieu. De huidige wijnen geven aromatische precisie en een puur mondgevoel.  Naast de topcuvées maken ze in Vin de France La Champine Syrah en La Champine Viognier. Beide wijnen hebben een super prijs/kwaliteit verhouding.  Het avontuur is nog niet voorbij, nieuwe creaties zijn in de maak. Een prachtdomein om in de gaten te houden.

Review

Featuring typical la Landonne scents of mocha and roasted meat, the 2018 Cote Rotie la Landonne also boasts plenty of cherry-berry fruit. Medium to full-bodied, it's richly concentrated and velvety on the palate, adding notes of vanilla on the long, silky finish. 94-95/100 Joe Czerwinski

Jean-Michel Gerin's sons, Michaël and Alexis, are running the domaine now, presiding over 12 hectares of vineyards in Côte Rôtie. There's a small production of Vins de France (from their own and purchased fruit) and Saint-Joseph (exclusively from purchased fruit). The wines here have been oaky for as long as I can remember, but in vintages when the fruit is naturally ripe and concentrated, they achieve a rich, velvety balance. That's especially evident with the leap in quality from 2016 to 2017 and 2018. According to Michaël, yields are pretty much always 30-32 hectoliters per hectare. "What's important is the concentration of flavor and the quality of the tannins," he said. He described 2017 as "very different from ’16, for keeping a long time." While '16 was "soft, delicate, almost like Burgundy," he said; in 2017, they "had to make a delicate wine from very strong grapes." He made fewer pump-overs to avoid extracting too much tannin, a step that seems to have yielded lovely results. Both the 2017s and 2018s—which will include a new lieu-dit bottling from Côte Bodin—are wines worthy of considerable attention.