I caught up with winemaker Yves Cuilleron today at a tasting of fourteen youngish and noteworthy French producers dubbed “Les Gobeloteurs” at the Tribeca Grill. Yves makes highly regarded red and white wines from the Northern Rhone appellations of Condrieu, Cote Rotie, Saint Joseph, Cornas, and Saint Peray. I really liked his ‘06 Saint Joseph, “Les Serrines,” which is made from small berry Syrah and has great aromas of tar and black olives on the nose. (find this wine)

He paused from his pouring to answer three quick questions:

What’s your favorite Northern Rhone appellation that’s not Hermitage? Condrieu (and Saint Joseph for reds).

New oak, good or bad? It’s a good thing when it’s well done but it depends how it is done. It’s very difficult to work with new oak.

How was the 2008 vintage for you? It was a very good vintage for the whites, which have very good acidity. The wines have high intensity but without too much alcohol. Vintages 2006 and 2007 were nearly 15%. But 2008 was a very late harvest. There was good, slow maturation and they ended up 13.5 percent.

The reds were mixed; there was lots of rain in early September, which caused problems in the early-ripening areas. But in the late ripening areas, there were six weeks of beautiful weather after September 13 and I harvested those in October.

A list of all the “Gobeloteurs” follows after the jump.
Domaine Vacheron (Sancerre)
Domaine David Duband (Nuits Saint-Georges)
Pierre-Yves Colin Morey (Chassagne Montrachet)
Domaine Etienne Sauzet (Puligny-Montrachet)
Domaine Cuilleron (Northern Rhone)
Domaine Roches Neuves (Saumur Champigny)
Le Clos du Caillou (Cotes du Rhone, Chateauneuf du Pape)
Domaine Michel & Stephane Ogier (Northern Rhone)
Domaine Albert Mann (Alsace)
Domaine du Pas de l’Escalette (Languedoc)
Bastide du Claux (Cotes du Luberon)
Domaine Cosse Maisonneuve (Cahors)
Domaine Roc d’Anglade (Languedoc)
Champagne Larmandier Bernier
And their guest, HdV Wines - Hyde de Vaillaine (Carneros)