Pierre Gonon, Iles Feray, Ardeche IGP

Opens up with a nose of flowers, pepper, green olives. Light and elegant on the palate, lively and energetic dark fruit. Much easier to drink at this stage than is big brother. With Niels at La Contadine.

2015 vintage

Very local nose. Stony with garrigue and olives. Vertical, cool. Still young. #Bagnols-en-Fôret

2015 vintage

Medium full body, dark garnet, but not opaque, just a bit of a lean toward leather. Hmm, starts out with some distinctive funk on the nose, almost a stale tidepool/fishy character. Largely cleans up with air, so give this a good decant. Deep, vibrant dark fruit, boysenberry, strong acidity, some mouthwatering tartness, a background violet note, mulberry, tannins are here more in the mid palate, but the acidity washes them away by the finish, very lively. Quite tasty, would be …

2015 vintage

A hint of brett on the nose, but in a complimentary way, as well as crushed rocks, floral notes, and berry compote. Not as savory or olive-driven as the St. Joseph. Poised and ready to drink now, we decanted 2 hours or so, so there's time left, though not much additional upside in my opinion.

2015 vintage

A private lunch (Restaurant Wils Bakery, Amsterdam, NL) : Beautifully matured, gentle but energetic, pure and subtle flavours, satiny tannins, bright red fruit and meaty maturity, smoky depth and floral lift, gentle tannins, minerally finish. A delightfully flowing wine.

2015 vintage

Cherries, black olives, black pepper, some smoked meat and lots of tamatoes (gonon signature). Nice length and structured. Really impressive.

2015 vintage

Third bottle within a month; see previous notes. This will keep for a bit, but it is not going to get better.

2015 vintage

Gonon tasting; 11/10/2023-12/10/2023 (Utregs Wijnhuis, Utrecht, NL) : The least of the four Les Iles Feray vintages tasted today (‘20, ‘19, ‘18 & this one). Medium+ intensity with also some tertiary notes; bacon, black fruit, olives, cherry, dried black fruit. Medium+ acidity, medium+ tannins, medium+ finish

2015 vintage

Had two bottles in succession at Parlotte. Compared to the 2018 and 2019 I had earlier in the year, this is a bit lighter and less 'in your face' with black olive tapenade, blackberry, blueberry, some pine and floral notes, together with some earthy soil. Very good wine, but not as impressive as more recent vintages.

2015 vintage

Pop and pour. With Hurricane Lee doing a number on the atmospheric pressure (and therefore aromatics) the anise of the 2015 was knocked down a bit, but you can’t keep a good Gonon down. Blackberry, Asian spice, bramble, and game with whispers of black pepper on the nose. The midweight palate offers plenty of energy and drive despite the ripe vintage with plenty of blue and black fruit flavors underlain with a fine bead of granitic spice. Fine-grained tannins and …

2015 vintage

Classic Syrah notes. Not really much structure here. Texture is really nice. Drinking wonderfully and this has sneaky complexity for a “second” wine.

2015 vintage

Ruby center. Explosive aromas of olive, pine, and violets. Medium weight. Tart black fruit, soil, chocolate, and citrus with some tannic support. Drinking very well now.

2015 vintage

Tasted quickly during service. A little more soft and round than I can remember the '17 being. Very focused on cassis, blackberry, black cherry and pepper, with good length and structure. While this was very enjoyable I think I preferred the more crunchy character shown of the '17 Les Iles Feray

2015 vintage

Très bon, à boire.

2015 vintage

Started very, very tight with grippy tannins and almost a vegetal palate. Then, classic meaty, smoky notes emerged with lots of violets and red berries (raspberry) which surprised me for such a warm vintage. Lovely wine that will age with no pblm.

2015 vintage

Lamb burger wine

2015 vintage

Tasted blind. Floral nose with cherries, pomegranate, violets, wild strawberries and some bretty notes. Good grip on the palate with nice acidity and red berry flavors, along with some cedar notes. Lingering finish. This was a bit more funky than the St. Joseph, but drinking quite well, although a step behind in terms of quality.

2015 vintage

Dinner at MingHin (Chicago, IL) : This is probably sitting in a bit of a shut-down phase right now. Nowhere as exuberant and expressive as I remember it being, although for the flyover appellation this is impressively dense; many other producers wish they could make wines like this in St. Joseph itself. The black fruit and solar ripeness are here in spades, but there's also a potentially disconcerting hint of brett here.

2015 vintage

Lovely, inky, very Syrah. Hard to think of wine at this level that delivers as much pleasure. To my taste, this needs another year or two in bottle to settle a bit but I age these more than most.

2015 vintage

Le vin a de la personnalité. Il est vinifié dans un registre nature et possède à l’évidence peu de sulfite et du gaz résiduel. J’aime sa gourmandise et son fruit en même temps que sa richesse aromatique étonnante. Il se boit aisément et comme son prix est modique, c’est une bonne affaire. Pas un grand vin, mais très bon.

2015 vintage

Last of my bottles. As was the case with every other, a joy to drink with bright, exuberant red fruit and olive notes, stemmy, floral, and herbal accents, and just a fantastic bottle of Syrah. I look forward to the 2016.

2015 vintage

Leftovers from Adrián's (I think?) birthday yesterday. This was a bit tough to taste after eating a super ripe local cows milk cheese made in a mold ripened style. But: very deep for this cuvee, but also lower acidity and quite ripe per the vintage. The ripeness is frankly unsettling, giving this a jujube character, a bit gummy. Perhaps not for me, in this vintage - at least at this juncture. At Bagos.

2015 vintage

Without a doubt, this isn't as good as the St. Joseph, but this is also way better than most other syrah around. The nose is intensely dark-fruited, pretty much to the point of being a fruit bomb (take a lesson -- this is what a fruit bomb ought to smell like). Behind that is an equally intense vein of black olive brine which adds a massive amount of complexity to what would already be a pleasant drinking wine. Wisps of …

2015 vintage

Another incredible bottle. Loads of pure blackberry with plenty of depth and nuance as well. Game and iron and purple flowers.

2015 vintage

Wines tasted at HDH Celebration of Burg Auction - Day One : Big saline, olive brine black fruit. Stuffed with pure black fruit. High on the delicious factor, if a bit simple.

2015 vintage

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Pierre Gonon, Iles Feray, Ardeche IGP

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