On Apr 22, 6:51*pm, Mark Lipton > wrote:
> Hard as it may be to believe, there was a time in the distant past when
> I considered the pronouncements of Robert Parker to be akin to divine
> judgment. *Back in those benighted days, I was invited to a conference
> in Nice and took that opportunity to visit a few choice producers in the
> Rhone Valley en route to Nice. *Among our visits was the tasting room
> (that alone should be a beacon of warning) of Chapoutier in Tain, the
> most Californian of experiences we had during our '98 visit (quite a
> contrast to chatting with the most engaging Nöel Verset in his cramped
> cellar space in painfully broken French). *Our only purchase at that
> visit was a '96 Cote-Rotie that seemed both decent and fairly priced.
> Last night, with a dinner of pan-seared venison steaks, we opened it:
>
> 1996 Chapoutier Côte-Rôtie
> nose: fair anemic, slightly meaty, hints of berries
> palate: medium weight, high acidity, drying fruit
>
> Overall, had I tasted this blind, I would have guessed that it was a
> Crozes-Hermitage past its prime, certainly never given much thought to
> Côte-Rôtie. *How it could be so devoid of aromatic interest, I fail
> understand. *Decent enough Syrah, but nothing remarkable.
>
> Mark Lipton

Chapoutier seems to have lost its way for me.