November 30, 2023 - Nez : fruité...baies confites et réglisse, notes florales, garrigue et olive.
Un vin fruité, ample, chaud...puissant, structuré avec des tannins fins bien présents/intégrés...umami. Son fruit est quelque peu liquoreux avec des notes poivrées. Longue finale. Boire d'ici 2025 ou plus.
March 4, 2023 - I love the fruitfulness, deep, flavors, and pepper finish, but I will say that I felt very high in alcohol content and taste it this way
August 12, 2022 - A good CDP that tasted almost exactly as I would expect--with the upfront red fruit seguing into fruit-pepper mix (others said garrigue, I do agree it's herbal but pepper is what is does for me). Strong although the wine carried the heat well; still might soften some more.
July 13, 2022 - Nose of red berries, lavender, savory herbs and red licorice with some heat from alcohol vapors. Sweet red fruit hits immediately on the front palate, followed on the mid palate by savory herbs, red licorice and cinnamon. Finishes dry with grippy yet juicy tannins. Love the layers of flavors and how the wine presents itself differently from nose to front palate, mid palate and finish. Drinking nicely now but still seems young. Probably would benefit from a few more years in the cellar.
April 20, 2022 - Beautifully perfumed nose, unfortunately it tastes like perfume. Can't hide its 16% abv. Might have been better younger.
May 9, 2020 - 2015 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale Les Hautes Brusquières showed textbook typicity of Châteauneuf-du-Pape with jammy red fruits, garrigue, power and concentration. The youthful Châteauneuf-du-Pape was clear and medium ruby in colour without any sediments. Syrah aromatics of raw beef and violets were accompanied with Grenache notes of ripe red cherries, strawberry jam, Provençal herbs and lavender. On the palate, it was dry, spicy, lush and full-bodied, with medium levels of acidity and chalky tannin. Intense flavours of liqourice, mint, garrigue herbs and smoke kept it from being overtly jammy. The long finish was packed with intense stony minerality and black tea. The blend composed of 60% Grenache and 40% Syrah, It was a candidate for controversial wine, as proponents would admire its power and concentration, while opponents would complain its over-ripeness and elevated alcohol at 15.5%.
August 2, 2019 - Southern Rhône trip with Rainer. Tasted at the Domaine, with knowledgeable Véronique. From a newly opened bottle. Medium to dark ruby. Lovely nose. Mixed berries, herbal notes, spices and liquorice, with good acidity, plenty of fine, well-integrated tannin and superb length. Elegant and long. Very precise winemaking. Dense and tight. Great stuff! The notable tannin is very dry at this stage and the wine will need a lot of time. For the cellar. Very promising!
Great Véronique gifted us the bottle (and the bottle of 2015 Mourre des Perdrix). We retried the wines over dinner picnic that evening and our initial impressions were confirmed. That said, at the tasting I preferred the Brusquières, but at the retastings in the evening I had a slight preference for the Mourre des Perdrix.
February 23, 2019 - Winebar [4 Whts & 8 Reds] from 02/22/18 (Vintage Wines Ltd., San Diego, CA): From vines planted in the 1980s in the N-W Les Brusquières lieu-dit; 60% Grenache & 40% Syrah; Partial whole-bunch fermentation at 29°C in tronconic vats (80%), s/s (15%), & demi-muids (5%); Aged in tronconic vats (95%) & demi-muids (5%); 3.9 pH & 2.96 g/l T.A.; 1,000 cases made.
N: Garrigue sliightly atop ripe berries (red rasps?)
P: MF body; RNDISH entry with nice, ALMOST swtish frt met by some astringent pucker which loses virtually ALL its bite by the LONG, POSS very, VERY slightly bitterswt finish with a tangy/swtness to the fairly inoffensive, dusty tannins. Approachable now, DESERVES through '19, then at least approaching its 10th. Nicely done! 15.5% ABV; My EXC-; 96 pts Suckling, 95 ea WA & WS, 94 Jeff Leve, 91 Jeb Dunnuck, & 16-/20 Jancis Robinson. [This vendor's $49.95 sits atop the current wine-searcher listings.]
October 27, 2018 - Tasted next to 2015 CdP VV. More powerful, more concentration, more sweetness. The alcohol is sticking out a little, could do with a bit acidity and lift. 89-90+
October 24, 2018 - A bit horsey and animalistic. Mid palate was kind of flat. Hopefully the next bottle provides the goods. Left a lot to be desired.