Tasted with Alain Coudert in Fleurie, 15 February 2024 – still laughing at my vintage guess for the blind wine…
Domaine Clos de la Roilette
Clos de la Roilette
69820 Fleurie
Tel: +33 4 74 69 84 37
Domaine Instagram
www.clos-de-la-roilette.com
More reports with Domaine Clos de la Roilette
Alain on 2023 vs 2022:
“2023 brought a bit more fruit, perhaps less complex than in 2022 but with a similar style. 30-35 hl/ha in 2022 but closer to 50 in 2023 – maybe the dryness and the warmth could be blamed. The first bottlings of 2022s were done in April, the second wave was done in June – but I always keep a little wine back to bottle in December. We had a bit of hail in the climat of Champagne – with 40% losses – but we are getting used to it! It’s not quite every year but nearly every other year! But the hail was in June so the things that were hit dried and dropped to the floor. Otherwise, 2022 was a vintage that was relatively easy in almost all respects – it’s just that the window today for harvesting is much narrower – we used to harvest over a good 3 weeks – now it’s much faster as so much is ready at the same time.”
The wines…
A super range of wines here – all are excellent except for the 2022 Griffe – and that could be a great one for the patient!
2022 Brouilly
The vines come from the maternal side of the family, but it’s only a small parcel..
A forward nose – concentrated but clean and open. Large scale in the mouth but here is a fine blend of energy and clarity to the flavour. Dark, mineral, graphite style finish – that like the rest of the wine is taut, clean and has a certain intensity. Excellent Brouilly.
2022 Fleurie Cuvée Christie
Parcels in Champagne And Deduits blended
Less intense but wider and with even more precision of aroma. Supple, mouth-filling, calmer than the Brouilly but still a wine of energy and here the extra complexity is much more accessible today – the previous I might was 2 years to start drinking, this I might wait until the weekend! Excellent.
2022 Fleurie Clos de la Roilette
A fluid nose, a little airy but with overt complexity too. More open and fluid than the ‘Christie’ there’s a faint dryness of tannin but really faint. Properly wide and Fleurie-esque in the finishing favours – That’s lovely. Long too. I’d wait for this too but a year is possibly enough.
2022 Moulin à Vent
The first vintage – 1 hectare of vines just 500m from the domaine at the foot of La Rochelle and Roche Grès – but Alain has worked these vines for nearly 20 years – vines of his cousin – but he’d never tasted them as they were always sold to the coop.
A nose of depth and inviting higher tones. Large scale in the mouth – there’s extra depth in the base of this too – that’s super in the middle and finishing flavours – there is extra here. Simply excellent, possibly more…
2022 Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive
Parcels here in Roilette from old vines of at least 70-years-old “Really the cuvée to drink a little later – but I don’t write vieilles vignes because it really doesn’t mean that much.” 90% elevage in foudres for about 8 months. The name tardive is not because they choose later harvesting, rather because these vines take longer to mature.
A more direct nose – quite forward, an impression of silk and direct higher tones. Open, more panoramic than the MaV – a texture that starts silky and turns velvet as the tannin slowly shows itself – hardly any grain. A wine whose fluidity balances the ample concentration. Long, more graphite mineral in style – here you can see you should wait but there’s already much to enjoy. In the first instance wait 2 years but 5 will be closer to optimum.
2021(!) Clos de la Roilette Griffe du Marquis
The stamp of the Marquis on this wax-topped, sommelier bottle. The same vines as tardive but matured in older barrels for 1 year before assembly into tank for 3 months. First produced in 2009.
Ah, the pyrazines! It’s like a pine needle complexity to the rest of the aromas, cushioned with a little oak. This wine sits beautifully in the mouth – ultra-concentrated and with a lick of salinity too. I can’t let those pyrazines pass me by but this is a beautifully put-together wine – if you’re not sensitive to ‘gentian’ you will love it!!
The stamp of the Marquis on this wax-topped, sommelier bottle. The same vines as tardive but matured in older barrels for 1 year before assembly into tank for 3 months. First produced in 2009, Bottled 15 December.
A high-toned perfume that’s partly due to the barrels – but it impresses! Large scale, complex, clearly with a fine and very impressive structure – That could be a great one but have 5 years of patience to start drinking your 12-pack 😊
And for the road – and the pleasure – not to mention the embarassment! :
Ooh – now here is some age – a width of inviting complexity, hinting at marsala – starting cool but warming and becoming more spiced and complex – really broad and ultra-complex in this finish – Still with some tannin so maybe it’s less old than I think – I am completely wrong – I guess 2016 and it’s 1996 cuvée Tardive – now feel free to laugh – but at me, not the wine!!