France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Intense stone fruit on the nose. Slightly oily, waxy, and nutty, but there also seems to be some tartness on the nose. The palate has a slightly waxy texture, but there is really good power and a smidgen of acidity here. It's definitely a wine that shows a little bit of age with a slight bit of nuttiness. There's some bitterness starting in the midpalate and building towards the finish. It's not over the top, but still clearly identifiable as white Rhone. Fairly nice, in the grand scheme of things, but it's still not my usual cup of tea.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. A hint of coffee and brown spice, as well as a slight bit of mustiness on the nose here. Slight browning of the fruit here -- sweet, dried figs? The palate shows quite a bit of browned fruit as well. Clearly shows a bit of age, but there's good fruit concentration here. The fruit on the finish is a little bit browned, and some bitterness, but this is a low octane wine with good concentration. There's a slight raisined character to this, but it's not the modernist high-extract kind. Reminds a bit of an amarone but without the alcohol. My 4th, group's 5th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Slightly high-toned nose, with some intense, darker fruit, with some cough-syrup-like notes. There's also a moderate amount of brett here. The palate is again quite ripe and intense, with a lot of black fruit still showing. The hint of animale shows up again on the palate, but the fruit is really ripe and intense, and not showing too much brown. Another lovely low octane wine with plenty of tannins. My 3rd, group's 7th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Very nice intensity here, with beautiful fruit on the nose, as well as a hint of coffee. Spicy, with a nice mix of sweet red and black fruited aromas; seems to me this is slightly candied (but not in a bad way). The palate is gentle but big, with lovely acidity and freshness. The balance here is absolutely excellent. My 1st, group's 1st.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Really intense brett here, but there are some nice sweet and sour red fruit elements here that help cover up the barnyard. The palate has a slight bit of brown on it, but the surprising this is the amount of acidity in this wine. It's almost all acid and the fruit plays a supporting role to it all. Oddly, there are some raisiny notes here as well -- not sure how that really happens. It's an interesting dichotomy, but I think the acid is a little too heightened here. My 6th, group's 12th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. More liqueur-like, with some darker fruit elements here, as well as some hint of oak? I also pick up a slight amount of caramel. The palate here feels fairly modern, but it's well put together -- the fruit is sweet and more jammy than a lot of the other wines. My guess is that this is on the younger side of the lineup. The tannins are also still fairly prominent. My 5th, group's 4th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. The nose on this feels a little dumb to start. There's a slight bit of brett, but it's restrained. This one shows a little more ripeness and alcoholic heat, but the palate seems a little watery at the same time. Lots and lots of tannin here. While this is still fairly good, it's not as complete as many of the other wines. My 8th, group's 8th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Quite some stinky brett on the nose here, but underneath it, there's some sweet slightly raisined fruit. The palate's fruit is incredibly intense, but there's a raisiny edge here that I think detracts from the overall experience. The fruit here is so fresh and intense, and balanced nicely by the acids, with tannins that are on the verge of resolution. My 2nd, group's 9th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Odd musty nose that doesn't strike me as TCA, but not entirely pleasant either. The palate is quite sweet, and shows a little more simple, and that mustiness seems to persist here. A little dirtier than I like it. My 11th, group's 2nd. (Maybe the glass this ended up in was a bit dirty?)
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Touch of coffee on the nose here, but a good amount of fruit as well. There's a touch of green as well. Oddly, the palate is incredibly acidic, with a lot of tart cherry and plum flavours. It's decently resolved, but the tannins are still a little chew. I wish there was a bit more fruit concentration here; this wine seems a little thin and tart. My 7th, group's 9th.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Dried dates on the nose. Earthy, with a slight bit of funk. The attack on the palate is fairly intense, but it does taper off quite quickly. Tannins are a bit hard on this wine as well. Not as powerful and potent as some of the other wines, but just a large structure that doesn't have too much flesh. My 9th, group's 2nd.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. There's something slightly lactic and sour on the nose that is a little unpleasant, but it's not overpowering. There's also a slight rusty metallic note on the nose that I don't like too much either. The palate has a slight confectionary quality to it, but there's ample acidity on the palate to cut it. It seems a little disjoint in that it's sweetness first, followed by acidity. My 10th, group's 6th.
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Rivesaltes
Served double blind. Kind of like a tawny port, but without the alcoholic burn. Not too complex on the palate, but nicely balanced with a decent hit of acidity to balance the moderate sweetness. A pleasant touch of herbs as well. Some dried fruit flavours on the nose and palate. Fine, but not particularly exciting.
2005 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Roussanne Vieilles Vignes 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Intense stone fruit on the nose. Slightly oily, waxy, and nutty, but there also seems to be some tartness on the nose. The palate has a slightly waxy texture, but there is really good power and a smidgen of acidity here. It's definitely a wine that shows a little bit of age with a slight bit of nuttiness. There's some bitterness starting in the midpalate and building towards the finish. It's not over the top, but still clearly identifiable as white Rhone. Fairly nice, in the grand scheme of things, but it's still not my usual cup of tea.
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1986 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. A hint of coffee and brown spice, as well as a slight bit of mustiness on the nose here. Slight browning of the fruit here -- sweet, dried figs? The palate shows quite a bit of browned fruit as well. Clearly shows a bit of age, but there's good fruit concentration here. The fruit on the finish is a little bit browned, and some bitterness, but this is a low octane wine with good concentration. There's a slight raisined character to this, but it's not the modernist high-extract kind. Reminds a bit of an amarone but without the alcohol. My 4th, group's 5th.
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1983 Domaine R. Girard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée du Belvédère Le Boucou Flawed
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Corked. My 12th, group's 11th.
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1988 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Slightly high-toned nose, with some intense, darker fruit, with some cough-syrup-like notes. There's also a moderate amount of brett here. The palate is again quite ripe and intense, with a lot of black fruit still showing. The hint of animale shows up again on the palate, but the fruit is really ripe and intense, and not showing too much brown. Another lovely low octane wine with plenty of tannins. My 3rd, group's 7th.
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1984 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Very nice intensity here, with beautiful fruit on the nose, as well as a hint of coffee. Spicy, with a nice mix of sweet red and black fruited aromas; seems to me this is slightly candied (but not in a bad way). The palate is gentle but big, with lovely acidity and freshness. The balance here is absolutely excellent. My 1st, group's 1st.
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1985 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Selection Reflets 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Really intense brett here, but there are some nice sweet and sour red fruit elements here that help cover up the barnyard. The palate has a slight bit of brown on it, but the surprising this is the amount of acidity in this wine. It's almost all acid and the fruit plays a supporting role to it all. Oddly, there are some raisiny notes here as well -- not sure how that really happens. It's an interesting dichotomy, but I think the acid is a little too heightened here. My 6th, group's 12th.
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1985 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. More liqueur-like, with some darker fruit elements here, as well as some hint of oak? I also pick up a slight amount of caramel. The palate here feels fairly modern, but it's well put together -- the fruit is sweet and more jammy than a lot of the other wines. My guess is that this is on the younger side of the lineup. The tannins are also still fairly prominent. My 5th, group's 4th.
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1989 Domaine Chante-Perdrix Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. The nose on this feels a little dumb to start. There's a slight bit of brett, but it's restrained. This one shows a little more ripeness and alcoholic heat, but the palate seems a little watery at the same time. Lots and lots of tannin here. While this is still fairly good, it's not as complete as many of the other wines. My 8th, group's 8th.
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1983 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Quite some stinky brett on the nose here, but underneath it, there's some sweet slightly raisined fruit. The palate's fruit is incredibly intense, but there's a raisiny edge here that I think detracts from the overall experience. The fruit here is so fresh and intense, and balanced nicely by the acids, with tannins that are on the verge of resolution. My 2nd, group's 9th.
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1970 Cuvée du Vatican Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Odd musty nose that doesn't strike me as TCA, but not entirely pleasant either. The palate is quite sweet, and shows a little more simple, and that mustiness seems to persist here. A little dirtier than I like it. My 11th, group's 2nd. (Maybe the glass this ended up in was a bit dirty?)
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1961 Edouard Robinson Ltd. Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Touch of coffee on the nose here, but a good amount of fruit as well. There's a touch of green as well. Oddly, the palate is incredibly acidic, with a lot of tart cherry and plum flavours. It's decently resolved, but the tannins are still a little chew. I wish there was a bit more fruit concentration here; this wine seems a little thin and tart. My 7th, group's 9th.
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1989 Domaine du Haut des Terres Blanches Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. Dried dates on the nose. Earthy, with a slight bit of funk. The attack on the palate is fairly intense, but it does taper off quite quickly. Tannins are a bit hard on this wine as well. Not as powerful and potent as some of the other wines, but just a large structure that doesn't have too much flesh. My 9th, group's 2nd.
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1983 M. Chapoutier Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Bernardine 85 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served double blind. There's something slightly lactic and sour on the nose that is a little unpleasant, but it's not overpowering. There's also a slight rusty metallic note on the nose that I don't like too much either. The palate has a slight confectionary quality to it, but there's ample acidity on the palate to cut it. It seems a little disjoint in that it's sweetness first, followed by acidity. My 10th, group's 6th.
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1982 M. Chapoutier Rivesaltes 88 Points
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Rivesaltes
Served double blind. Kind of like a tawny port, but without the alcoholic burn. Not too complex on the palate, but nicely balanced with a decent hit of acidity to balance the moderate sweetness. A pleasant touch of herbs as well. Some dried fruit flavours on the nose and palate. Fine, but not particularly exciting.
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