4/19/2014 - Christoffer78 Likes this wine:

An absolutely magnificent wine from a star producer. This wine is so fully packed, so balanced, so nicely integrated and so totally lovely there is no way I can actually refrain from giving it a perfect score. I have written before and do so again: When there are no flaws - a perfect score it is!

The nose reveals wonderful flowers with tones of violets and lilac. Adding to this is lovely wet stone, orange zest, dark fruit, subtle but still visible black pepper and an intriguing tone of sweet licorice. The most remarkable feature of this effort by far is the cool impression and the wet stone. It is just so lovely you cannot stop longing for more. The palate is perfectly balanced - but tannins speak out loudly and it is quite obvious this is a young effort. The primary fruit adds a nice layer of complexity to the wine and there is no doubt this perfectly balanced effort will continue to develop and integrate into a true white swan given some time. The length on the finish is super impressive and it just lingered on and on in the background. To summarize, this wine for sure is very elegant and plays on finesse and fine tuning, but it is still powerful and full of texture and structure. I cannot find one flaw in it, except from it being on the ”youngish” side. The wine will for sure continue to develop and it needs time to integrate. But what a wine it is! Amazing - full stop.

We tasted this effort blind and when I got it in the glass I was amazed by the cool stony fruit and the totally clean and utterly profound nose. When tasting, the structure and sheer power took me by surprise. I will honestly tell you that I wandered off to Argentina and the lovely Malbecs produced by e.g. Catena Zapata, but the complex flowery component and subtle black pepper immediately revealed this was a Syrah… But there is no Syrah from California, even the best ones, which can produce a wine so totally ”cool” and also deliver a profound fruit, still the fruit was very close to the best Californian Syrahs. I did not get Cornas - but I said: ”not Hermitage”. I still think it was a bit too brutish for being a Hermitage. I was very pleased and happy to see it was the masterpiece from Domaine Clape!

7/4/2013 - Collector1855 wrote:

Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2010 - Check-up on 20 Top names; 4/1/2013-3/18/2016: Well, it is a RP 100 pointer, expensive and difficult to find. Against this backdrop I opened this bottle on my B-day, independence day, with my brother who is also an experienced wine collector albeit with more of a forté in Bordeaux and California than CdP. Alongside we had the Clos des Papes 07. The two wines could not be more different. The Deus ex Machina, dark ruby, started with a closed and reductive nose which only opened up after 1h with notes of dark fruit, garrigue, coffee and Asian spices. On the palate the wine is highly structured with lots of ripe tannins and good acidity. Very powerful but very good balance and freshness. To me that is, next to the 2010 vintage which is always mineralic and fresh, the Mourvedre which makes all the difference to the more oxidative Grenache. The Clos des Papes, also a very nice CdP but Grenache only, was much more in the red fruit kirsch/cherry/red current corner with more odixative, hot and meaty notes. RP likes both very much and gives both of them very high notes. For me, and also tonight for my brother it became clear that we both prefer the more fresh CdPs which use a big enough Mourvedre component to make that freshness happen, e.g., Grand Veneur VV, Clos du Caillou Reserve, Beaucastel Hommage, Pegau da Capo, Gigondas Santa Duc Haut Garrigues, Gigondas St.Cosme... Try out for yourself to see in which camp you fall.

7/4/2013 - MAXIMUM SATISFACTION Likes this wine:

Inky black/purple color with an enormous nose of sage, menthol, hot tar, and black cherry. Mouth coating black fruits, anise, and meat drippings. Endlessly juicy finish…young perfection. Paired with Lindy and Grundy pork chops marinated in white wine and an assemble of sweet spices.

See more at
http://maxsatisfactionwine.com/post/54647315823

7/6/2013 - Silent Knight Likes this wine:

I decanted and the nose hit me immediately upon opening. It was desperately in need of air so I left it for 1 hour then double decanted it back into the bottle before leaving for the restaurant. Decanted again during dinner for a total of 3.5 hours and served during the meat dish. Red cherries, slate and a hint of anise on the nose. Dark reddish purple and a hint of brown on the edges. Beautiful bouquet. Well balanced. Some tart red fruit, wet granite and a hint of cocoa on the palate. A good 30 second finnish. Very nice bottle of wine. In my opinion, still not enough decanting. I will shoot for 5 hours next time.

7/8/2013 - Wine Fool Likes this wine:

This wine has it all--in spades! Decanted four hours. The color is very deep purple. Even after the long decant, the aromas emerge slowly with vigorous swirling. On display is the full panoply of primary scents—cherries, plums, violets, garrigue, rosemary, licorice, sage, coffee and just the suggestion of animal. The flavors (again plums, cherries and coffee) are huge and deep and are balanced by cutting acidity and sweet tannins. This is some big stuff and the finish lasts a minute. Despite its size and weight the wine is neither heavy nor tiring. It remains lithe and lissome. Perfect. Wish I had ten cases just for myself.

6/24/2013 - CRAUBER4242 Likes this wine:

Decanted for 30 minutes and enjoyed over the next 30 minutes.

I completely agree with RMP on this one. It was a wine that had an amazing combination of power and elegance. A large massive Grenache with an “extraordinary amount of acidity and freshness” that had a fantastic nose of kirsch, raspberries and melted licorice with a nice underlying minerality leading to a nice long finish. A great wine for sure and one I wish I had bought more of.

12/31/2012 - Christoffer78 Likes this wine:

A sheer powerhouse, I cannot help but love the rather unsubtle features of this effort. Of course it is also an elegant wine but there is a difference between elegance and refinement and thanks to the Pinot content this wine is not refined but certainly elegant. The nose is full of mature baked apples topped with creamy caramel adjoined by dark brown toast and lovely subtle minerals. The palate is integrated and balanced and follows through on the promises made by the nose. The mousse is rather fine grained, but still vibrant and expressive. This wine delivers all the typical Bollinger elements, yet it is an elegant and utterly pleasurable experience. (score is 94+)

(Served at NYE dinner with 2000 Billecart-Salmon cuvée Nicolas Billecart, 1996 Henriot Brut Millésimé, 2000 Taittinger Comtes de Champagne, NV Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle and NV André Clouet cuvée 1911.)

6/5/2013 - Champagneinhand Likes this wine:

I accepted a challenge from a forum member to drink this early in its primary stage and rate how much I liked or didn't like. I was very skeptical, but good for my word.
I have to say that its stunning the moment you pull the cork and pour into the glass. Lovely aromas of violets a touch of lavender, and the boysenberry, blackberry, black raspberry fruit that is very sweet in the nose. Kirsh liqueur comes to mind as well. It also has a lot of heat, especially as it warms and breathes in the glass. I am so thankful I placed the cork back in the bottle, because as this filled with air more and more, the heat became overwhelming and while the sweetness of the black fruits and kirsch were syill present, but it seemed that the tannins hardened up and it wasn't as impressive as it was from the bottle. Still I was very impressed with the mouth-coating quality, and what acid it actually had which may be a bit low for long term aging. The finish felt like a kiss of oak, tough I don't know if any is used, but the hints of vanilla could be from the strong fruit as well. I think this was very enjoyable, although it lacked the nuances expected with age in the multi juice CdPs. The sweet tannin stays in the mouth and it is a great bottle, but I'm thinking the ABV is at least 19%. Such is life in CdP in warm vintages.

Additional note, if you open consume the majority of the bottle within 2 hours as this really starts to fall apart with air and time. Bitterness and black licorice notes blend in and mixed with the stiffer tannins and sweet fruit and high ABV the wine becomes disjointed. I've seen this with many younger Bdx which not ready to drink. Disjointed would be the appropriate word. This is why I try to let the great wines age a bit if not a decade. 95+ within the first couple of hours, just not liking there after.

1/12/2013 - cr84 wrote:

This wine really grew up since I had it last... Now it's an adolescent ready to grow up but needing some time to come together. Dark grenat dress with a peperish nose profiling some dark red berries. The mouth is tacitely expressive but the tannins are extremely well integrated, displaying a greatly precise structure with fresh woody flavors. This is beautifully built up and will only improve with time. Awesome effort!

4/21/2013 - cr84 Likes this wine:

Oh boy! At first very closed, this wine just needed 5 to 10 minutes of air to start showing its stuff. Concentrated on its grey-ish purple robe, this Charvin unfolds on an harmonious, powerful, and masculine body. The final is beautiful, with a great body of dark berries, intense extract of Provençal herbs, and a round and dry intensity. This was a neat and clear wine, which tonight showed pretty tacitly but profiled an enormous potential to reach a score higher of one point.

96+ points

4/19/2013 - mxpbuy Likes this wine:

Decanted for 2 hours prior to dinner in La Mirande's restaurant in Avignon. Bought this same day from Domaine Pegau's retail "cave" in the center of town in CDP. Ruby color. Still evolving even after two hours, but wonderful throughout. Ultra smooth, actually creamy, on the first half of the palate. Vanilla and tannins on the back end but still smooth. Glorious layers of red fruits that were overripe but not jammy and very elegant. After mid palate some white pepper. A little dried green herb at mid palate but not remotely herbaceous. A complex and fantastic CDP. Loads of life left.

2/3/2013 - _Xenon Likes this wine:

Laid back and female at the beginning. I miss a bit 'rusticness'. Very gentle and already ready to drink. After 60-90 minutes decanting the typical Janasse fruit and nose showed up. A very classy wine, however, for 25 € more (59 > 85) I prefer the 2009 Vieilles Vignes as it has a more open nose, a more complex structure and a bigger body. Fortunatley both wines are still availble in my area (Feb 2013). Nevertheless: Excellent to outstanding. I am a big fan of Janasse!

I have heard, that in southern Rhone 2011 and 2012 can not compete to 2007, 2009 and 2010. So I am thinking of buying some more now.

1/12/2013 - Rezy13 wrote:

NR due to my confusion. Obviously a rich, extracted, and compact wine. A little hard to evaluate at this stage. Was really impressive out of barrel, but this almost seemed closed. So dense and bitter with cocao and the medicinal grenachiness. Dark fruit of the spectrum. In serious need of some more acidity- weird because that is what I loved about the 2010s? Could be worthy of mid 90s if this opens up.

1/6/2013 - Winekrupt Likes this wine:

Really impressed me. In the nose a hint of everything, nice dark fruit, red berries, mocha, garrigue with a briney meatiness and funkiness to it. On the palate the the wine is fresh without being a lip smacker, and the tannins are already so approachable. Perfect acid and tannin. The palate mirrors perfectly the boquet. One of the best wines of 2012 for me. I have had Pegau before, but this one was outstanding.

12/29/2012 - Eric Guido Likes this wine:

The exuberant nose showed intense, ripe blackberry, cherry and currant fruits along with notes of cinnamon, ginger and clove spice, pencil shavings, lavender and dark yet fresh floral tones. On the palate, it was seamless with a feminien feel, a medium-body and silky tannins that were balanced by juicy acidity. Tart cherry notes intermixed with herbal tones, rich black licorice, and charred meat, which lasted throughout the medium-long finish along with hints of fig and bitters.

12/25/2012 - robw Likes this wine:

Today this wine was amazing. Splash decanted and served with steak. The nose was a bouquet of finely ground white pepper with hints of berries. There was no heat and the balance was near-perfect. A joy to drink!

12/26/2012 - _Xenon Likes this wine:

I did 60-70 tasting notes here at winecellar, my highest score so far was 94. But this wine blew me away! I opened it and offered this to my friends. Everyone was like 'WOW!' especially as they haven't tried CdPs before. We are living in a Tuscan world. We all fell in love with this wine. No need to decant or wait four more years. It was just perfect as it was. Fruity, elegant, class, style, it really had the 'Uff, - wow!' - factor. I would be happy if I would be able to get more of this for 90 €. However, this is not the case anymore. Janasse seems to be hyped that much, the market just exploded. Glad, I have 10 more different sorts of Janasse in my cellar. One of this left and 3 of the 2010 (which I bought for 130 €). The good thing is, I don’t need to wait for the perfect time, I can just enjoy it!

11/6/2012 - cr84 wrote:

The dress is a wow dense opaque grenat profiling a nose full of spices and cinnamon. It's fresh and perfectly built up but it first and foremost is extremely well packed up with notes of berries and dried garrigue - a genuine dive into an provencal open market. There are beautiful tannins that gracefully kick back in the final to build a multidimensional mouthfeel underlining the majesty of this baby. I popped and poor this beauty and it showed wonderfully, hence: yes it's open for business. A perfect wine.

12/21/2012 - Christoffer78 Likes this wine:

I am not sure why, but this wine immediately made me think of the classical one-liner: "yeah baby" and the big smile which only Austin Powers can deliver... Returning to the wine, I am really amazed that a wine with this quite modest price tag can deliver so much pleasure combined with promise for the future. The 2010 Souteyrades has a nose which is perfectly integrated. The dark mature Grenache fruit makes a cool and distinguished entrance adjoined by ample herbs like thyme and sage. Adding to this is subtle sweet licorice. The palate is full-bodied, perfectly integrated and completely lacks any sign of heat. Actually the palate lacks any hard edges, except from some velvety tannins at the back-end. This is a super effort with a very nice backbone and structure, irrespective of the price tag. The only "drawback" is that the wine needs at least a couple or more years in the cellar to open up. During the evening I constantly got the feeling that "there is more to be found around the corner". This wine should be worth following for at least 10 more years. Bravo! Tasted alongside a 09 Saint-Damien Vieilles Vignes, this wine appeared as more full-bodied, better structured and simply - so much better...

(Day 2: The wine is still nicely integrated and balanced but much more open and expressive. There is no sense of heat whatsoever. The tones of thyme and sage are accompanied by lovely lavender. The length on the finish is shorter than yesterday, which I find a bit surprising. 95p.)

12/18/2012 - pclin wrote:

Good nose, better than 2009 vintage. Perfumed, forward and focus. Notes of blackberry, forest floor, leather and garrigue. Showing more tannins than 2009 vintage, noticeable on mid-palate. Higher acidity too, not as sweet. Label indicated 16% alcohol with heat at the end, high alcohol level is a concern. Overall not as balance as the 2009 vintage. Have both vintages within a week, 2009 is better. 90-93 pts.

12/17/2012 - Philippe_C wrote:

Very mineral nose, nice volatile acidity, black and crisp fruit... loads of fresh red cherries in the mouth, sappy wine, loads of minerality, very very very long aftertaste... a very mineral, but killer Pégau!!

12/17/2012 - Philippe_C wrote:

Very powerful ripe cherries, chocolate, violettes (probably from the high % of syrah)... very refined tannins, ripe red cherries, very very very long aftertaste.... definitely a very special bottle to open in very special occasions!!

12/16/2012 - SevenDayMile wrote:

Double decanted over 4 hours.

Inky purple. Aromas of boysenberry, blackberry, grilled game, and red currant lead to a robust palate with persistant acidity and a core of red fruit - cherry, raspberry, and plum. Fine tannins, superb texture, and great length. Does not necessarily have the core of minerality of some other heavyweights from this great vintage, but for that reason I prefer this right now.

12/16/2012 - Billy Swan wrote:

We're seven getting this in the glass, blind for my friends. The fragrances exploding out of the glasses silences everyone for a little while before words come stumbling out from seven mouths. This is is kind of dark, very serious blackberries, garrigue, pine, wood-fire, licorice, citrus-fruit and kirsch just rolls over everything. It's impressive and wonderful, but also a bit worrying - will it be to much?
No, it won't. This has impeccable balance. The alcohol, probably above 16%, is in complete check thanks to wonderful acidity, fruit, garrigue, licorice, tannins and a structure beautiful as the Chrysler building. The intensity is weightless. 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre is a marriage made in heaven.
This is one of the most monumental Châteauneufs I've ever had. I hope I have the character to leave my remaining bottles for at least ten years. This will cruise for a long time.

12/1/2012 - isaacjamesbaker wrote:

One Heck of a Saturday: A near-perfect 2010 Chateauneuf, made from 100% grenache. Wow, the structure and depth of this wine is astonishing. Aromas of cedar, tobacco, anise, black cherries, black pepper and hints of toast. The aromas combine to form a tight fist that will take years to unpack. Very young, with firm tannins and tightly-compacted fruit, but enough acid to make this pleasant to drink. I love the complex fig, tar, herb garden and earth flavors in this wine. An incredibly long finish. I would absolutely love to try this again in 15 years, it's got at least that much time ahead of it. I know Robert Parker and Tanzer swooned over this, but they're on to something here. Superb.

12/9/2012 - ldarieut Likes this wine:

Probably one of Philippe Bravay's best achievement. The mouth is full, rich, with a distinct liquorice finish.
Exceptional balance and great potential, it will probably last 20 years.

12/9/2012 - the godfather wrote:

pruny alcoholic heat, a mess

12/11/2012 - Ekoostik wrote:

Just an awesome wine and value at its discounted price purely based on the vintage reputation I imagine. Loads of escalading fruit, red, blue (ever so slight black) berries with a full palate but never feeling overripe or leaning prunish. Has the density and power of a super cuvee but still retains more lithe than most would. Really long finish with some tannin at this point, but still a pleasure to drink. (drink or hold - No brett noticed)