In this video, I’ll open and taste the most expensive bottle from my personal wine cellar. It’s a Cornas from the northern Rhone Valley from Noel Verset. Is the wine worth $3,000?
Verset worked 75 vintages. His final wine was produced in 2006. He passed away in 2015 at age 95. The fruit is sourced from rugged infertile terraced vineyard sites. The vineyards are worked by hand. Very old vines, low yields, produced in an unmanipulated manner, the wines have an amazing track record for longevity. The wine is made entirely from Syrah, for me it’s the purest expression of that variety from anywhere in the world.
1999 is part of a multi-year streak of very good vintages for the Northern Rhone. If you’ve watched any of previous videos, you might be thinking, what’s happening here, the focus is usually on the best value priced in the world. I’ll get back to that, but today is a different story.
In terms of price, the range is spread, but a web search shows about $800 to $1500 for 750ml bottles from various vintages from the 1990s and double that or a bit more for a 1.5L. And the prices have spiked in recent years with diminished availability.
Good storage conditions are critical. Store your wines well, you’ll be rewarded when it comes time to open them. An ideal environment is a cool consistent temp 55F/13C, dark, minimal UV light, relatively humid environment, minimal movement.
Check wine level with the bottle is standing upright, as it often drops as a wine ages. The gap between the wine level and the base of the cork should be no more than the width of your thumb. Standing the bottle upright for a day or two prior to opening will often allow sediment to work its way into the base of the bottle. Check for the presence of sediment with a bright light. Since this wine sees minimal cellar treatment, it retains a slight haze that will not settle.
Over time, the wine forms a completely natural sediment crust that adheres to the inside of the bottle. A sure sign the wine has not been overly fined or filtered.
Chapter markers
00:00 – 1:01 Intro
01:02 – 1:24 The Bottle
01:13 – 1:52 The Vintage and Pricing
01:53 – 2:20 Bob Paulinski MW
02:21 – 2:40 How To Store Your Wine
02:41 – 3:20 How I Ended Up with the Wine
02:42 – 4:22 How to Open an Old Bottle
04:23 – 9:07 Tasting the Wine
09:08 – 10:37 Retasting the Wine After a Few Hours
10:38 – 12:05 Is It Worth the Money?
#winetasting #frenchwine #rhone #rhône #wineculture #winetime #expensivewine #winelovers #wineculture #winetime #winecellar #winestorage #wset #wsetdiploma #masterofwine #bobpaulinski #expensive #cornas
34 Comments
What a great treat. I’ve heard many times that magnums are one of the best ways to keep age-able wines in a well managed cellar. The classics are classics for a reason. Cheers.
Thankful for every video. Being able to learn so much.
It sounds like it's developing nicely after opening
There was an article on Jancis Robinson’s website describing the phenomena of sediment in the presence of O2 (after the bottle is opened) and the impact on flavor. I’m not suggesting that you’re wrong for not decanting. Just pointing out that there does seem to be an objective impact on flavor from leaving opened wine, with sediment, undecanted. I don’t remember the details of the research, however
Well, what can i say.. I will prob never taste that wine again.
But again, i have met noel, a few times in 89 tru 92. If i rember right.
I was just a big boy back then. but the wines ware amazing. drank my last 2 bottels at my 25th, birthday party. 🙂
Thats almost 25 yers aggo, how time fly..
How do you know how long you can age a wine for?
Thanks, Bob, interesting video. Love Cornas. I am currently drinking 2013 from Perrin and it is superb – probably not quite in the same league as your 1999 but delicious, all the same.
You have the luckiest neighbors, Bob. I think you mentioned minimal presence of oak. Is it typical for Northern Rhone Syrah? Cheers!
Although, I have known about Cornas for a couple of decades, I've only recently started drinking it (2015 Delas Chante Pedrix, Courbis Champelrose and Courbis La Sabarotte) and I have been blown away by them! Why didn't I try this appellation sooner?????
What a treat for your neighbours!
I’ve never tried a Cornas before but my local store has a few bottles of Francois Villard 2020 ‘Jouvet’ Cornas that I think I may have to buy now.
Great video, love the older vintage tastings.
Great watch! You're making me tempted to go and stock up on a load of Mathieu Barret while it's still kind of affordable!
What vintage report is it you use @bob?
A 3000$ wine is a mental illness.
Thanks for opening this wine and tasting it over time. Great episode !
Dude lived to 95 and produced wine until his very day… tells me his wine must be good for you. A veritable elixir of youth
I DARE you to blind taste this French wine with a bottle of 19 Crimes Snoop Dogg red wine. Don’t hit, I was joking😆.
I smoked some salmon and cauliflower on the weber and had it with the Trader Joe's Bourgogne chardonnay you recommended. Side of blanched rapini. Some harisa mayo for the roasted cauliflower. It was delicious with the chardonnay. Thanks for the recommendation. It's a winner.
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing that experience with us, Bob. I doubt I'll ever have the opportunity to taste a wine that expensive, so it's nice to be along for the ride.
Volatile acidity meaning it has a slight hint of a vinegar aroma?
Great video! So interesting to hear how the aromas and flavours devolp
after the bottle is opened. To me, thats one the most fascinating things about wine: how a bottle can smooth out, and different flavours move into the forefront over a few hours. I appreciate rhat Bob takes the time to share that with us.
If you bought this wine for USD 25, that will always be at the back of your mind. Plus, youhad four of them and have tasted them over the years. So, you will never be psychologically prepared to pay USD 3,000 for it. Now for some folks who have never had the chance to try this wine and enjoy rare gems like this….yeah, USD 3,000 is your chance to try a wine that will never be replicated again since the winemaker has passed on.
You can tell from the video how much fun you've had with this wine! It's the best feeling in the world to open a bottle hoping nothing happened to it, and then it's not only in good shape, but much better than you'd expected. Cheers!
One of my deathbed wines… we stopped purchasing once the auction prices got close to $400… love the pre-2000 vintages when all three vineyards were in the blend…
Do you find any consistent marked difference in style/character or age-ability between the N.Rhone appellations or would you say it’s more producer specific?
There are not many wine coolers where the temperature is actually constant, I think only Eurocave comes close to perfection.
Often there is a temperature fluctuation due to the compressor switching on and off, not ideal for the long term.
Brilliant Video, very informative. I love older wines. I enjoyed a 2005 Ch. Du Pape with some venison. OMG yes, such a pleasure to track the wine's development over years (I had 6 bottles) and then in the glass. Tracking the evolution of a wine is the pinnacle of wine, for me. There are few other natural products which allow this 😊
Bravo! Lovely review of a great wine. Amazed at the 12.5 abv. Coronas takes forever to reach its optimal drinking window. I have a case of Clape ‘12. Tried a bottle recently and it was way too early. They need another 7-10 years! I’ll be 85 so it may be my son who enjoys them!!
I so appreciate your sharing these gems from your collection. And your joy in enjoying them. And BTW, I would have been sneaking snorts every 15 minutes just like you did😂😂😂😂
Wow, you lucky dog. Cornas is a beautiful wine, hard to afford these days. I’ve been drinking a Beaune Greve 1er cru 2000 recently and it was fantastic.
no reason to pay so much
I'll play this for everyone who asks why I've kept so many bottle for decades. A special thank you for coming back to the bottle.There is nothing better in wine to me than well made, well aged bottles and how, if in good shape, they evolve over the course of hours.
I wish i had more Verset cornas in my cellar. I drank it all. Now it's out of my price range. Oh well, guess it will have to be its neighbor tonight, Coronas
I don’t think i have ever seen you enjoy a tasting that much. Your face said it all. Smart move on your part to keep at least one to see its evolution i would do the exact same thing even if it’s worth 3k. Very envious!! Great video. Cheers!