This Northern Rhône red is one of the most exciting newcomers to our shores and has quickly garnered a following among critics and sommeliers across the country. Although Hermitage and Côte-Rotie are the most famous appellations in the Northern Rhône, the often steeply terraced vineyards of Saint-Joseph are capable of delivering benchmark examples for a fraction of the price.
A close friend of mine discovered this remarkable producer a few years back and began importing their pure reds derived from some of the most important parcels in Saint-Joseph. Since then, Domaine Coursodon has become a benchmark name in the region. With aromas of wild-picked black and blue fruits coupled with savory majesty native to the Northern Rhône’s finest terroir, the 2014 Coursodon Silice is as age-worthy as it is delicious and will reveal one of the great treasure of your cellar with a little patience.
The celebrated villages of Mauves, Tournon, St. Jean-de-Muzols and Glun are four of the original six communes of the Saint-Joseph appellation and deliver the distinct granitic soil that makes the western hill of Hermitage such a coveted site for Syrah. A near mirror image of the great hill, this wine is derived from Domaine Coursodon’s parcels that are scattered among some of the greatest parcels of these four premier villages. Since the 1920s, Domaine Coursodon has worked these premium sites in Saint-Joseph with deep passion and pride. Today, Pierre mans the vineyards while his son, Jerome, handles the winemaking. Though Pierre is a bit old-school with serious focus on terroir and strict, traditional vineyard management, Jerome recognizes the importance of implementing modern winemaking techniques as long as the terroir continues to shine through in the glass. Together, this father-son team captures just the right dose of tradition and innovation in their magnificent collection of wines.
Domaine Coursodon has become a serious force in the Saint-Joseph appellation. Their wines of complexity, depth, and decadent fruit are offset by perfect freshness and the classic savory characteristics that make the Northern Rhône the greatest source for Syrah. With ample critical praise and a cult following, their wines have skyrocketed in popularity over their short foray into the American market. We have become quite enamored with their incredible wines and easily place Domaine Coursodon among the brass ring of Pierre Gonon, Faury, and Jean-Louis Chave. They manually farm their incredibly steep vineyards, first cultivated by the Romans, with a highly sustainable approach that is reflected in the aromatic purity and flavor profile in the glass. Planted in granitic soils with some loess and clay, this wine boasts a delicious, rocky minerality with excellent body and a velveteen texture that sends a jolt of pleasure through your entire body. The entirely hand-harvested fruit is destemmed and fermented with native yeasts over 2-3 weeks. The wine is aged in a combination of old barriques, demi-muids and stainless steel for 14-16 months. Like the noble Syrah from Hermitage, this wine is powerful but finessed, and is anything but shy at its precocious two years of age.
The 2014 Silice has a very dark purple core with slight magenta hues on the rim. The aromatics are simply bursting at the seams with lush, ripe boysenberry, blueberry, black cherry and black plum woven into a bed of wild herbs, exotic wildflowers, fresh violets and black licorice that are deepened by classic Northern Rhône fragrances of dried meat, black olives, black pepper and dark crushed rocks. The pure, focused palate reveals beautiful texture and creaminess to the core of black and blue fruit, which evolves to include savory splendor of exotic wildflowers, wild mushrooms, dried meat, black olives, Provencal herbs, and a hint of black pepper. Although simply mesmerizing in its youth, this wine will transform into a true treasure of your cellar in another 5-8 years when the fruit drops out in favor of a savory, complex perfume that will seriously blow your mind. For immediate enjoyment, decant for one hour and serve in Bordeaux stems between 55-60 degrees. For the ideal marriage of flavors, serve this beauty with matriarch to
Domaine Tempier, Lulu Peyraud’s recipe for pot-roasted leg of lamb.
