New Wines from Alain Voge: Another Northern Rhone Super Star!
Alain Voge New Releases
The red and white wines of the Northern Rhone never cease to amaze me. Majestic, tantalizing and transcendental are a few adjectives that come to mind but what really gets me excited is the QPR (quality price ratio.) For wines that are seemingly popular and in an area with expensive real estate, in my humble opinion there is no greater value in the world. Even the most basic northern Rhone wines can age and age with the better ones lasting decades. When a customer wants a case of wine for $50/bottle to last several decades for their children, Northern Rhone Syrah is the first to come to mind.
Alain Voge has been on my radar for many years and often spoke about in numerous wine circles, but due to scarcity and lack of distributorship, I never really had a chance to get into them. With their recent acquisition by one of my better companies, I am extremely interested in working more with this producer.
I got a chance to try several of these wines last year for the first time in a serious manner and just tried a good chunk of the new vintage. As always, the whole line-up is stellar, with their great uniqueness, individuality and insane ability to age. Since my newsletter last year for the 2015s, we have been killing it with this producer; internet sales left and right. So, let's be the first ones to get in on the new vintage: right here, right now!
Alain Voge has been on my radar for many years and often spoke about in numerous wine circles, but due to scarcity and lack of distributorship, I never really had a chance to get into them. With their recent acquisition by one of my better companies, I am extremely interested in working more with this producer.
I got a chance to try several of these wines last year for the first time in a serious manner and just tried a good chunk of the new vintage. As always, the whole line-up is stellar, with their great uniqueness, individuality and insane ability to age. Since my newsletter last year for the 2015s, we have been killing it with this producer; internet sales left and right. So, let's be the first ones to get in on the new vintage: right here, right now!
- 10% off 6, 15% off 12
- Most wines arrive middle of June with some here now!
2016 Alain Voge Saint-Peray Fleur du Crussol
Newsletter Price: $51.99
Very limited and small production. This is 100% Marsanne made in barrel with lees contact. I am always skeptical of northern rhone whites. I love perfume and tulip gardens but not when both are combined on the nose of a wine. This is not that. Golden fruit driven nose with oodles of lemon cream, herbs and fine ingrained minerality. Medium bodied with fine roaming textures. A perfect white for those bored with Chardonnay and want something with a little more something than Sancerre.
2016 Alain Voge Cotes du Rhone Les Peyrouses
Newsletter Price: $23.99
Why is this Cotes du Rhone different than other Cotes du Rhone? A few reasons. It is 100% Syrah and in the Northern Rhone. Super rare. From both inside Cornas and Saint-Peray. Aged between 2-5 years in oak casks. Super bright red fruit with oodles of raspberry coulis and herbs de provence spice all over. Light, fine and powdery in the mouth with soft tannins. This is one of those stand out Cotes du Rhones and did I mention the price?
2016 Alain Voge Saint Joseph Les Cotes
Newsletter Price: $44.99
Surprisingly not that tight and wound up although obvious there is a lot going on behind the curtains which will emerge over time. Finely tuned herbs and berries roam free like Bob Dylan's dogs and percolate with primordial cigar box and earth driven minerals. Fresh and tangy fruit is dark and dried but alive simultaneously.
90 Points Jeb Dunnuck: Moving to the 2016s from bottle, the 2016 Saint Joseph Les Côtes has a fabulous perfume of rose petals, blueberries, spring flowers, and sappy underbrush. On the palate it's fresh, medium-bodied, and elegant, with a silky style that puts on weight with time in the glass. It will benefit from a year of bottle age and drink well for 6-7 years.
2016 Alain Voge Cornas Les Chailles
Newsletter Price: $51.99
Aged 18 months in neutral oak from 30 year old vines. Tight as hell and unable to smell pretty much anything except a twig a stick and some crushed berries. Should open up in 10 years and can age for another 20. I guess Jeb Dunnuck has more to say....
93 Points Jeb Dunnuck: Leading off the Cornas releases, the 2016 Cornas Les Chailles is a wine that always delivers pleasure. It offers an exotic bouquet of violets, black and blue fruits, gamey meats, incense, and bouquet garni. It's medium to full-bodied, rich, beautifully textured, and layered, with the charm to drink today and the balance and class to keep for a decade or more. It's a rich, powerful Cornas from 2016.
2016 Alain Voge Cornas Les Vielles Vignes
Newsletter Price: $79.99
Oh my. Even in such a youthful state, there is so much exoticism it's freakin ridiculous. The white pepper is so quaint yet so primordial and exotic, I almost want to become white pepper for Halloween -- #not literally. The ferociousness of this pepper is understated on the palate where there is gorgeous interplay between dried fruits, scorched earth, spitfire roasted bacon and some decaying forest elk. So much ferociousness I almost don't want to quote the scores, but whatever...
97 Points Decanter: From lieux-dits Mazard and La Côte, 80% destemmed. Sun-warmed herbs accompany sand, lavender and raspberry on the nose. It has good aromatic freshness and definition, and the full-bodied palate is also clean, super-fresh and lively. It's dense and ripe, defined by serrated tannins, keen acidity and a mouth-coating character. This is full of character, a very classic expression of Cornas that's not massive, but is detailed, clear and sinewy with mineral hints. Seriously good this year.