July 29, 2020 - If this is a poor vintage of Chateauneuf-du-pape then sign me up!
At 26 years of age, this wine is still drinking beautifully.
The color is lighter with some amber along the edge but nothing wrong with that.
Beautiful nose clear on the evolved side, dominated by spicy, mineral and earthy side with plenty of evolved fruit remaining. If you're looking for a "fresh fruit bomb" this isn't it ; thankfully...
The wine is clearly on the lighter side in terms of texture with the fruit drying up. So lively, long finish, a very elegant wine.
A treat!
July 30, 2018 - Palish bright translucent red color with trace of cloudiness; some nice briary red cherry fruit still; very pleasant forest floor and candied red fruit palate; very much alive still bit with interesting complexity to show for its aging. Softly textured despite some evident acidity which is holding things together. Showing nicely.
December 24, 2012 - Getting towards the end of its life. Not a lot of primary fruit remaining.
Lighter bodied Grenache blend with plenty of spice and acidity....good
drinking with Xmas lunch of smoked quail, ham, duck and turkey.
April 10, 2011 - Last of a case. Garnet with some diffuse clearing. Nose of roasted meats, garrigue and pepper. Very smooth with some traces of black pepper and sour cherry still present on the palate. A graceful end to the life of this case.
January 23, 2010 - So much better than the last. Drunk out of a Dasani sport bottle smuggled into Avatar. Beautiful wine, in secondaries, full, garrigue, hmmmmmmm. John Gilman's note is perfect for this bottle.
October 30, 2009 - The 94's are fading into sappy meaty sandalwood generica. While I like them they are getting a little monolithic and it's starting to be time to move on.
As in this bottle. I like it, but it could be from any number of producers.
December 14, 2008 - Terrible.
May 10, 2008 - The more I drink older CNP, the more I find I really prefer the cooler vintages - '86, '88, '93, '94, and finally '96, which I think is very much of a sleeper vintage which is outstanding right now. This wine brought out all the pine/forest/brush notes that can be in CNP, and in this case strung together by a very hefty acidic spine of pure ash. People say 96 is the Burgundian CNP vintage, but my take is that it is simply a great CNP vintage, and reflective of what Grenache can do when it's not overripened. Other recent great 96s for me were the VT and the Janasse VV.
December 12, 2007 - Probably waited too long on this. Not unpleasurable but more mature than I am used to.
May 23, 2007 - This wine was tasted with a 1990 Domaine St. Benoit Grande Garde, 1994 Pegau and several younger wines. It was ok, but not up to the same standard as either the Pegau or St. Benoit.