Coudert's Cult Fleurie
2010 Clos de la Roilette Cuvée Tardive
The New Release of the Beaujolais Icon
Alain Coudert's Cuvée Tardive is a serious contender for the most ageworthy and profound Beaujolais.
I do not say so lightly. The 1999 Cuvée Tardive remains the best Beaujolais I've ever drunk. I had it in 2007, and it was STILL youthful.
This is indeed the anti-Beaujolais-Nouveau, sourced from two east-facing parcels of vines over 80 years old and boasting a most formidable structure. The typical profile of Roilette's wines is one of dark fruits (black cherries, mulberries, plums), olives, licorice, smoke, mint, a complex array of flowers and a salty, meaty, nutty quality.
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As the long description suggests, the Tardive is a seriously complex wine.
While 2010 has big shoes to fill, coming on the heels of the widely acclaimed 2009s, early reports suggest that for the purists, this is a very, very exciting vintage.
At a recent dinner, Joshua Raynolds of Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar seemed very excited about the vintage. He shared the following early impression: "In a nutshell/Cliff's Notes version: Like a cross of 2009 and 2005, with some 'classic' Beaujolais nervosité thrown in. Fruit, structure and energy... kind of a dream brew, in a sense."
A dream brew indeed - the 2005s are legends, still in a youthful stage. Still, compared to the monuments of 2009, 2005 had a bit more energy, tension. In a way, 2010 appears to be a return to more "normal" proportions, yet the wines have excellent concentrations. The 2010s, while muscular, have that snap and clarity that wine geeks have long since sought in this region.
Longtime fans have a right to be very excited about the prospects of the 2010 Tardive. I'm picturing a more concentrated and ageworthy version of that 07 that I'm still kicking myself for not buying more of. And the Tardive is a remarkably consistent wine that, with its old-vines' concentration, its regal grandeur and incredibly complex internal architecture, pretty much always ages well.
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While 2010 appears to be more of a classic vintage as compared to 2009, this is not an early-drinking wine. It's safe to assume that the Tardive will continue to improve for the next decade or more in the cellar. If such richness and intensity sounds unusual for Fleurie (generally thought to be one of the more delicate Crus), this may well be because Roilette is really more Moulin-à-Vent in terroir - get into the clay soils of Roilette's parcels, and you'll find plenty of manganese, typical of Moulin-à-Vent. Check out the picture taken from the Couderts' home. Alain is eager to point out that the division between Fleurie and Moulin-à-Vent begins at the tree line - the soils, however, are exactly the same.
We have secured a large parcel, but we also expect demand to be high. Roilette's Tardive is a cult Beaujolais and it's one of the few Beaujolais that brings collector's of all sorts out of the woodwork every year.
This special pre-arrival pricing is likely to be the best price you'll see.
We urge you to give us your maximum request, and we'll make all allocations as fairly as possible. To order, please email us at offers@crushwineco.com or call the store at (212) 980-9463. Oh, and because it's Saturday, note that you may not hear back from us until Monday!
Have a great weekend.
Joe Salamone
Wine Buyer
Crush Wine & Spirits
Special Email Bottle Price: $23.95
No compare-at pricing available in the nation currently
Special Email 6-Pack Price: $132.60 ($22.10 / btl)
Wine is pre-arrival
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