What's Pressoir Drinking

August 31, 2022

Raj Vaidya

A couple of weeks ago, I had some former colleagues over for a night of eating and drinking, and several of them were kind enough to dig very deep in their cellars to share several special bottles. What can I say, I’m a lucky guy!

Over the last two weeks I recounted the profound 1964 Bize Savigny 1er Cru Vergelesses and the memorable 1979 Volnay Caillerets from the Marquis d’Angerville. Clearly there had been a Burgundy theme, but we ended the night with one of the most compelling Rhônes I’ve ever tasted.

The Jasmin domaine has seen some ups and downs over the past decades, with certain eras when the wines are well known to be profound and others where they were underachievers. This 1971 was from an era that I had no experience with at all, and it was the oldest Jasmin I’ve every tasted.

The domaine dates back to the arrival in Ampuis of Alexandre Jasmin at the end of the 19th century. Alexandre showcased his domaine bottled wines in Paris expositions as early as 1909, highly unusual for the era. His son George took over the domaine in 1935 and is hailed as one of the greatest personas in the appellation, and by 1971, George’s son Robert had been working alongside his father for over a decade.

The wine had such delicacy in its structure that I was caught off guard - almost no perceptible tannin, softness and even a slightly sweet fruit (this could have been the remnants of chaptalization, to be fair). The color was reminiscent of Jacques Seysses’ early vintages at Dujac; almost more rosé than the color red. However the savory character of the wine was very intense, deeply gamey and leathery with textbook black pepper spice and a pervasive smokiness. Very long on the palate, it was the first thing on my mind when I woke up the next day. And given that I’m still thinking about it nearly three weeks later speaks to its complexity and brilliance!