Domaine de Gachon 2000

Beautiful weekend here and the 'fur really flew.'  It was 50 degrees and sunny and both dogs were attacked by the dog clippers and huge quantities of hair came off their heads, necks, shoulders and chests.

The grill came into play for the first time this year since the snow melted enough to make it accessible again.  There was a small strip steak, fresh asparagus and polenta cakes all done on the grill and some onions caramelized on the stove top with some duck fat and butter to top the steak.

The wine was a 2000 Domaine de Gachon St. Joseph.  Medium color in the glass and just the beginning of orange on the edges.  The nose was wonderful dark fruit, ripe black plums and dark cherries all sitting in top of freshly turned earth and some raw meat.  The wine and the uncooked steak had a remarkably similar aroma.

I decanted the wine and then lit the grill so the wine had about an hour of breathing time.  The nose kept getting better.  The taste was all those fruits and earth, some well integrated tannin and great acidity.  This was still a full bodied wine.  This was my third experience with this wine.  The first was wonderful but the second  had a touch too much brett and faded quickly.  This one was far and away the best.  Great depth of flavor, wonderful acid, good clean finish and very few flaws.  It did all of this at only 12.5% alcohol.

The asparagus was a definite non-worker with this wine but the steak and onions and the grilled polenta were terrific and made a great pairing.  There is one final bottle in the cellar and I'll wait until autumn to drink it on its tenth birthday.  Very good wine and another reason to love northern Rhones.