Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie 2015 should be a real treat, but I am nervous about it.
I have bought and enjoyed Clusel-Roch Cote-Roties since the early nineties. Some of these wines have been amazing. The 95 Grands Places was a nigh-peerless expression of Cote Rotie terroir.
When I first started tasting them, Clusel-Roch Cote-Roties were supremely minimalist wines. Elegant, compact, swirling with understated complexity. They never clocked in at over 12.5% alcohol but lacked nothing in terms of depth of flavour. To my mind, the perfect Cote-Roties.
My perturbation about tasting this is because things have changed at Domaine Clusel-Roch. Since those early days of minimalist beauty, Guillaime Clusel, the son of the couple who founded the Domaine, has taken over vineyard and winery duties.
Alcohol levels have risen; this is 13%. The wines are more extracted; some I have tried have been distinctly tough and chewy. Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie has become a different animal.
Animal is most appropriate, as a couple of his wines I have had were poxed by the dreaded Brett and stank of cow shit. They had no redeeming features at all. What a fall from grace for Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie!
However, 2015 was a ripe and sanitary vintage. Every other 2015 Cote-Rotie I have tried has been lovely. Has Guillaime continued to fling turds at the great name of Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie? Will this be a vintage where his talents have blossomed? Do I feel lucky, punk?
Let us cross our fingers, get tasting and find out!
Cote-Rotie 2015, Domaine Clusel-Roch
Shit! Bloody shit! There is a distinct aroma of feculence to this. It is disgustingly Brett-y.
I am severely vexed; I do not mind telling you.
I thought for a moment there was a shade of nice blackberry fruit skirting around the edges of the shit, but a quick swirl has made them melt into the excreta. The earthiness I had hoped would be there is compost mixed with dogs’ eggs.
That which does not smell of turds has the aroma of putrefaction. It is utterly disgusting.
I will have a taste for the purposes of this note…
It tastes filthy.
I will never buy a Clusel-Roch Cote-Rotie again and I suggest you avoid them like dysentery. That is what they smell like with Guillaime Clusel at the helm.
He is a terrible person to have done this to the great family Domaine. His parents must weep themselves to sleep every night.
Looking at a website (that shall remain nameless), where people an post tasting notes of wines they have purchased, clearly demonstrates that the wisdom of crowds isn’t. I’m shocked that no one felt it worth mentioning the elephant in the room when it came to reporting on this wine.
I’ve ordered a bottle!
You could have sent me the money rather than wiped your arse on it!
Do they sells brains? Get one of those too!
Oooh arrrh, they sells brains alright my boy.