Last night, with our son away competing in the Indiana High School
E-Sports Finals, Jean and I had a dinner alone while (again)
quarantining against the surging pandemic here in flyover country. We
had some D'Artangan vension chops that we broiled and served with mashed
potatoes and sauteed baby bok choy. With this simple meal, Jean had
requested a "very good wine" so I opened a treasured rarity:

2010 Gonon St. Joseph
[note: this was not the unicorn Vieilles Vignes bottling that consists
of Raymond Trollat's old vines]
nose: pungent green olives overlaying subtle blackberry aromas
palate: subtly fruity, savory, almost saline, virtually weightless,
brilliant acidity

This was the second of three bottles that I'd managed to secure back
when Gonon was still reasonably priced. Cellartracker tells me that it
now fetches $220 at auction, but I'm not motivated to sell my last bottle.

This wine is at an interesting stage in its development now*, having
shed much of its youthful fruit and taken on more savory notes. It
will, I expect, continue to gain aromatic complexity and become more
delicate yet with time (this is extrapolating from the older bottles of
Verset Cornas that I've had)

Jean did in fact proclaim this to be one of the best bottles of wine
that she's had in a long time. As usual, I found the pairing with
venison to showcase the character of the wine beautifully, neither
overpowering it nor being overpowered by it.

At this point, I'm down to single bottles of the '09 and '10. As with
Verset and Chave in earlier eras, I will hold onto these remaining
relics of a bygone era until an occasion merits opening one (Dale, if I
can get out to NYC next year, I'll lug one along)

* This is from our passively cooled, below-grade cellar (mean temp 57
F). Bottles stored in a cooler or more constant environment might be
expected to be not as far along in their development.

Mark Lipton

On Sunday, December 19, 2021 at 1:59:47 PM UTC-5, Mark Lipton wrote:
> Last night, with our son away competing in the Indiana High School
> E-Sports Finals, Jean and I had a dinner alone while (again)
> quarantining against the surging pandemic here in flyover country. We
> had some D'Artangan vension chops that we broiled and served with mashed
> potatoes and sauteed baby bok choy. With this simple meal, Jean had
> requested a "very good wine" so I opened a treasured rarity:
>
> 2010 Gonon St. Joseph
> [note: this was not the unicorn Vieilles Vignes bottling that consists
> of Raymond Trollat's old vines]
> nose: pungent green olives overlaying subtle blackberry aromas
> palate: subtly fruity, savory, almost saline, virtually weightless,
> brilliant acidity
>
> This was the second of three bottles that I'd managed to secure back
> when Gonon was still reasonably priced. Cellartracker tells me that it
> now fetches $220 at auction, but I'm not motivated to sell my last bottle.
>
> This wine is at an interesting stage in its development now*, having
> shed much of its youthful fruit and taken on more savory notes. It
> will, I expect, continue to gain aromatic complexity and become more
> delicate yet with time (this is extrapolating from the older bottles of
> Verset Cornas that I've had)
>
> Jean did in fact proclaim this to be one of the best bottles of wine
> that she's had in a long time. As usual, I found the pairing with
> venison to showcase the character of the wine beautifully, neither
> overpowering it nor being overpowered by it.
>
> At this point, I'm down to single bottles of the '09 and '10. As with
> Verset and Chave in earlier eras, I will hold onto these remaining
> relics of a bygone era until an occasion merits opening one (Dale, if I
> can get out to NYC next year, I'll lug one along)
>
> * This is from our passively cooled, below-grade cellar (mean temp 57
> F). Bottles stored in a cooler or more constant environment might be
> expected to be not as far along in their development.
>
> Mark Lipton

Great note. If you bring one to NYC, I'll counter with the '06. :)
Happy Holidays!