December 6, 2016 - At a 20+ year CNP tasting with friends. Clear wine, very little sediment. Amber in the bowl, orange on the rim. Cherry, earth, and forest floor on the nose. Tannins resolved completely but good balance. Bing cherries in the mouth, allspice in the finish and there was no astringency yet. Still, it was the opinion of the group not to dawdle in drinking these.
May 27, 2014 - Dès l'ouverture, nez fabuleux de mûre et d'épices, devenant de plus en plus animal, avec une fraicheur mentholée qui équilibre le tout.
Les épices prennent encore plus d'ampleur après ouverture.
En bouche, quelques tanins encore présents qui se fondent délicieusement après ouverture, longueur absolument incroyable.
Un très grand vin.
May 30, 2013 - Fully mature, with a spicy kirsch and earthy nose. Medium bodied, elegant and soft, there is a nice sweetness to to very ripe cherry finish.
May 20, 2013 - A brilliant experience to be offered, this 30 years old Chateauneuf-du-Pape shows plenty of evolution while displaying a lively and expressive robe, a pretty well conserved nose, almost as youthful as the nose of the 2001, and a medium to light bodied concentration. Behind these nice curtains is a full expressive beauty which lives up to the ageing potential of this estate’s wines. Its body has is a equilibrated balance of humus, truffle, menthol, pine, and -believe it or not- tiny injunctions of red berries. The only drawback of this 1983 is its dry, compact, final; yet, that doesn’t really come as a surprise given the light profile of the vintage. A very serious offering, I feel that, over the course of the last 30 years, this wine has kept a great youthfulness while improving onto some serious secondary and tertiary aromatics. 91 points.
April 26, 2012 - Old and Rare Châteauneuf-du-Pape Seminar (1955-1996) - Lead by Harry Karis (Hospice du Rhone, Paso Robles, CA): Medium red color. Good nose. Somewhat thin palate.
May 5, 2011 - The 3 Cs of the Northern Rhone: More of an intriguing foray into aged CDP, even though this particular bottle was past. Heavy note of wet sous bois that actually gained some depth with more time (hints of garrigue and wet cherry emerging). It had some interesting tertiarity on the nose with mushrooms and forest, but the wine was past its peak.
June 18, 2005 - This was definitely spoiled somehow... my guess is it was cooked.
November 30, 2004 - I did not have very high expectations for this wine, but I was pleasantly surprised. The nose shows iodine, olives, and very sweet cherry. The palate is fuller than I anticipated with tasted of earth and beef blood. The tannins are nearly gone (I just got a hint on the finish). Overall I find the palate to be a bit distant. I wish I had drank this 10 years ago.
June 19, 1990 - With Kathy at home at dinner (chicken cacciatore). Good ruby color and medium legs. The nose is fairly restrained, but nonetheless exhibits enough of the smoky, gamy scents to identify it as a Rhone, even a good Chateauneuf du Pape. Fine in the mouth as well, with good body and plenty of power. Chewy. Good wine, not great. Seems a bit closed. 5-10-15-7: 87/100.