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| Drinking Windows and Values |
| Community Tasting History |
| Community Tasting Notes (average 90.4 pts. and median of 91 pts. in 70 notes) - hiding notes with no text | | | Tasted by Marc Vanholst on 9/24/2023 & rated 88 points: Too much ripe fruit and too powerful for me. Lacks elegance and not sure that this bottle will every find a better balance. Not my thing. (1004 views) | | | Tasted by Momus99 on 9/18/2023 & rated 86 points: Pretty much same as previous note. (935 views) | | | Tasted by Zweder on 9/1/2023 & rated 91 points: Ripe dark and red berries and good garrigue in both the bouquet and on the palate. In this bottle the alcohol seemed to be more integrated than in the previous bottle. (1312 views) | | | Tasted by Zweder on 6/3/2023 & rated 88 points: Very ripe dark berries and a lot of garrigue in the bouquet as well as on the palate. A firm amount of sweetness, ok acidity and tannin. The 16% ABV is a bit disturbing. (1641 views) | | | Tasted by Oaktown Winos on 3/25/2023 & rated 91 points: Fabulous full bodied, nice fruit, (1558 views) | | | Tasted by bravo.solares on 1/21/2023 & rated 88 points: Oof, was I wrong giving this CdP a shot. Very good vintage according to many (warm during the day but cool at night, unusually large diurnal swing, slow ripening, all leading to good acidity). So I thought I’d try this CdP, an entry level bottling… The alcohol was simply brutal though. As obtrusive as it gets, on both palate and nose. Little else came through, especially on the palate. The nose did improve a bit with air, revealing hints of classic CdP aromas… that were then quickly clobbered by alochol burn. (1319 views) | | | Tasted by El_Dougo on 1/17/2023: Medium ruby in glass. After 2 hours in decanter and some time in the glass, medium (almost med-) fruit forward nose remains rather tightly wound around Asian spices and pepper, black cherry, chocolate and charred wood. This wine is still developing with little tertiary characteristics.
Palate is fruity and spicy to match the nose, although perhaps not with intensity. Acidity is med, tannins medium, alcohol high, body medium (lighter body than I was expecting). Med finish, med flavor intensity. This is an acceptable wine altjoufh lacking in balance due particularly to high alc. On a positive side, there is some complexity given the various varietals traditionally included in the CdP. Drink now or age a few years. Pair it with a complexly flavored white meat such as spiced grilled pork.
Postscript: Something has been bugging me about this wine. The more I think about it the less I think I really liked it. The alcohol at 16% was not balanced out by the fruit and acidity that I think it should have been. Another reviewer talked about the mid palate “gloop.” I think that is the alcohol. It certainly left a finish that was not enjoyable. Again, mayb time can improve this? The key to high alc is balance and I think this wine lacks it. (1371 views) | | | Tasted by wineismylife on 11/7/2022 & rated 93 points: WIML93
Tasted non blind.
Dark garnet color in the glass, clear looking throughout. Nose of aspirin, black berries and ginger. Flavors of berries, cherries and raspberries. Medium to bright acidity, medium to firm tannin, full bodied. Drink or hold. (1558 views) | | | Tasted by Momus99 on 10/20/2022 & rated 86 points: Kind of disappointing…Not a lot of balance. Rather less tannic than I’d expect. Kind of “gloopy” (hard to explain but murky dark fruits without a lot of freshness). A bit too much oak as well. (1341 views) | | | Tasted by WilD on 7/10/2022 & rated 91 points: Big bold fruit. Give it some more years. (1578 views) | | | Tasted by alexlb06 on 7/2/2022 & rated 93 points: Two years later and the wine has really developed beautifully. Spicy and earthy with big red fruits. (1356 views) | | | Tasted by srmdrummer on 11/10/2021 & rated 91 points: Medium ruby colour. Nose of red fruit and it's like you can smell the tannin after having been left to open do a couple of hours. On the palate very juicy dark berries, balanced acid and good length. Tannins more pronounced as time went on. Delicious. (2347 views) | | | Tasted by sirpat00 on 10/16/2021 & rated 93 points: Had this at a social event hence only brief notes from memory. Not decanted and none really needed. Intense and fruity with black tea complexity. Great balance, powerful but still refined. Best bottle of the Clos St Jean so far and it seems the bottle age is really starting to elevate this. (2485 views) | | | Tasted by ChopperWine on 10/9/2021 & rated 90 points: Final bottle of six. Way too much alcohol. 16%. Way too sweet. Light rim. Black cherry, moss/earth, concentrated red fruits and blueberries. Medium acidity, medium tannins. I probably would not buy again due to its lack of finesse. Just seems like a rushed project of high alcohol juice from a good year. (2228 views) | | | Tasted by Rossodio on 9/16/2021 & rated 89 points: Comes out of the gate hot with alcohol very apparent. Settles down after 2 hours with fleshing out of fruit but it really still is overshadowed a bit by burly tannins and the alcohol. Still, very pleasant and good with steak and brown rice. There are certainly better CdP's from 2016 out there but I am glad I had this bottle.
Drank about half of the bottle; as I was expecting an off balance wine, did not plan to have the rest. (2079 views) | | | Tasted by rm97 on 5/24/2021 & rated 92 points: Better second night (2509 views) | | | Tasted by sirpat00 on 5/22/2021 & rated 89 points: Brief note only: Pretty high intensity juicing jumping at you. Ripe, licqeuresque red cherry fruit with some floral notes on the side. High octane and not fully integrated palate. This works well for casual drinking if you can take a punch, but too overpowering for my taste. (2136 views) | | | Tasted by Montesquieu on 5/1/2021 & rated 89 points: Final bottle from a case. This is solid CdP and wine for the money, for sure. But not special. Bottle quality variation was noticeable. I'd say this is in the top-10% for the price point ($30) but not the top-1% that I search for. (1815 views) | | | Tasted by JohnMontague on 3/14/2021 & rated 95 points: This wine is in its wheelhouse right now and better than other vintages I’ve had. Dark, mysterious, and spicy with notes of clove and black pepper. There’s a grassy, almost bitter finish. It’s more unusual than the 2015. Highly recommend drinking a bottle this year. It might get better with more time, but this could be the mountain top. (2048 views) | | | Tasted by Neras on 2/19/2021 & rated 93 points: Lots of sweet, pleasant grenache with good acidity and Long taste. Really pleasant! (1993 views) | | | Tasted by blaine on 1/16/2021: I went ahead and finished my last bottle with a hearty pasta dinner just to get it out of the way. Mothers and fathers: please teach your children that 16% ABV is too much. A brooding wine. Big, muscular...not regular muscular, but steroid muscular. If that’s your thing, this is the wine for you. It’s not for me 😬 (1879 views) | | | Tasted by Deo68 on 1/9/2021 & rated 80 points: Medium garnet. Long legs foretold a heavy alcoholic presence. Luscious black fruit on the nose but very tight on the palate, having tasted it straight out of the bottle. Well structured except for the heavy alcohol dumbing down the fruit that was promised on the nose.
Drinking now - 2022. Would be worth tasting again in a year but I suspect the alcoholic cloak will not fade quickly enough. You could try decanting it for a couple of hours to see if you could open it up a little and offset the pesky alcoholic overlay.
USD$47 for a half bottle at Table at 7. DO59+C. Would I buy again? Yes but not at this price. (1894 views) | | | Tasted by bullmrkt on 11/13/2020 & rated 85 points: I agree with "Vide" and "Blaines's" assessments below. Tough, crunchy tannins and hot. The tannins will soften with time, but with only tepid dark fruits, I suspect it will only magnify the alcohol's presence even more. For the next bottle I'll try giving it a couple hours in the decanter. The 2010 vintage wasn't bad (90-ish), but this is just getting too boozy IMO... (2091 views) | | | Tasted by solastlagia on 11/5/2020 & rated 92 points: Heavy graphite, strawberry, dark cherry flavor. Does not feel like 16%. (1853 views) | | | Tasted by vide on 8/25/2020 & rated 90 points: I can't imagine why anyone would want to make a wine that is 16 proof (just one proof short of Sherry). The alcohol has the effect of dumbing down the flavours, which are not particularly pronounced to begin with: an indefinite soft dark fruit with soft tannin. The wine does soften after 2-3 hours in a decanter, and to be positive for once it is a compact wine that has lasting presence and stays in the mouth. (2112 views) | | | Only displaying the 25 most recent notes - click to see all notes for this wine... |
| Clos Saint Jean Producer website - Read more about Clos Saint Jean
U.S. Importer (Addt'l Info)
The Domaine was founded around 1900 by Edmond Tacussel. However, in 1910 "Clos Saint Jean" was actually created with the registering of the brand. The vineyard has expanded through the generations - in 1920 by Edmonds’ son, Leopold Tacussel, in 1930 by Edmond’s son-in-law Camille Maurel and in 1957 by his grandson Guy Maurel. When Guy passed away in 1982, his wife Jocelyne Maurel who gave up her teaching position, together with their two sons, Vincent and Pascal (great grandsons of Edmond), took over the management of the family domaine with some of the best situated vines in all of Chateauneuf-du-Pape, all in the area of La Crau. Jocelyne Maurel died in November 2003. In 2002, Philippe Cambie had been hired as consulting oenologist/viticulturist, and he is (as is well-known to readers of Robert Parker’s writings), one of the greatest oenologists of Chateauneuf. Up until early September, the year 2002 was one of the most promising vintages in recent times, but a disastrous flood ruined the vintage. The Maurels sold off the entire crop to negociants and made no wine. In 2003, the brothers and Mr. Cambie were ready and nailed down the 2003 vintage to perfection. What they did was a little counter-intuitive (following the calamity of 2002) and took enormous courage — they waited, and waited, to pick. Even though 2003 was a hot year, with high sugars early on, they did not succumb to the temptation to pick the crop before it might rain, and instead held off. They started picking in late September, when virtually everyone else had finished. The wines all display supreme physiological and phenolic ripeness, without notes of surmaturity or over-ripeness. They are all deeply colored, rich and profound, even at an early stage.Red Rhone Blend Read about the different grapes used to produce red and white Rhone wines
On CellarTracker, Red Rhone Blend is the term for a wine consisting of two or more of the traditional 13 Southern Rhone grape varieties. Typically it's the Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre or Cinsault grapes, but can also contain the Muscardin, Counoise, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Picpoul, Roussanne, Terret Noir, Picardan or Vaccarese grapes.
A 'food' wine. Lacking pretension and intended for local consumption with local cuisine. Lacks the 'high' notes on a Bordeaux, more earthy and sharper so often a better partner to meat dishes with a sauce. France Vins de France (Office National Interprofessionnel des Vins ) | Pages Vins, Directory of French Winegrowers | French Wine (Wikipedia)
Wine Scholar Guild vintage ratings
2018 vintage: "marked by a wet spring, a superb summer and a good harvest"
2019 vintage reports
2021: "From a general standpoint, whether for white, rosé or red wines, 2021 is a year marked by quality in the Rhône Valley Vineyards. Structured, elegant, fresh and fruity will be the main keywords for this new vintage."
2022 harvest: idealwine.info | wine-searcher.comRhône Guide to the wines, wineries and appellations in the Rhone Valley The Rhône Valley/Le Vins de la Vallée du Rhône (Comité Interprofession des vins AOC Côtes et vallée du Rhône)
### Wine Scholar Guild's Rhône valley vintage charts & ratings ###Southern Rhône Guide to the wines, wineries and appellations in the Southern Rhone Valley
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation - Read more about Chateauneuf du Pape
Another site on this appellation
Vineyards on weinlagen-info
"As I have written many times in the past, the sweet spot for drinking Châteauneuf du Papes is usually the first 5-6 years after the vintage. Then they seem to go through an adolescent, awkward, and sometimes dormant stage, only to re-emerge around year 10-12, where the majority of wines are often fully mature. The best of them will continue to hold on to life (but rarely improving) beyond 15-20 years. It is only the exceptional Châteauneuf du Papes that will evolve for 20-25+ years, and those are indeed a rarity. However, things may be improving dramatically in terms of the longevity of Châteauneuf du Pape, although Grenache-dominated wines, the vast majority of wines produced in the appellation, are wines that do not have the polyphenol (extract and tannin) content of top Cabernet Sauvignons, Merlots, or Syrah-based wines. Nevertheless, the younger generation in Châteauneuf du Pape has taken seriously the farming in the vineyards. There are more organic and biodynamically run vineyards here than in any other appellation of France. The yields, which were already low, are even lower today (20-35 hectoliters per hectare), and of course, the proliferation of top luxury and/or old-vine cuvées gives a significant boost to the number of wines that will evolve past 25 or 30 years. The advantage of these wines is their broad window of drinkability." - Robert Parker
Vintage Chart 1978 to Today
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