May 15, 2024 - A little tight upon opening so I double decanted it for an hour and this showed pure aromas of black licorice, fig, leather and stemmy undergrowth notes which gave way to ripe, sweet, blackberry flavors with a lingering white pepper edge.
October 5, 2023 - WCC Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blind Dinner (The Chef's Table in Café Capriccio, Albany, NY): [Double-decanted around noon; left bottle uncorked until 4:30 pm.] Tart, muted nose. Even more backward than the previous wine [2007]. Definitely needs more time. Hard to judge. 92-??
April 9, 2023 - Lovely nose, classic Grenache CNDP. Pure red fruit. Herbs. A bit alcoholic.
Alcohol again present on the palate, muting lovely pure and intense black and red fuit flavours.
This benefited from chilling: the alcohol blew off and the really lovely stone fruit character emerged more strongly.
April 5, 2023 - This was a disappointing wine for our Seder.
November 11, 2022 - Balance between fruit and backbone could get better. A little too spicy, almost sweet. Needed offset by a very flavorful baby back rib.
August 27, 2022 - Lab BBQ. Quite a bit of earth/funk on the nose and the palate, followed by rich fruit and a nice mouthfeel. This is a very solid and well-made CdP that leans a bit toward a modern style. Have two left and they should hold for a few years.
July 17, 2021 - Last of six, and this one showed the best. Spice, garrigue, dark honey, ripe, soft fruit. The 05 of this bottling started us on the path to European wines from big CA wines. Now, except for Pegau, and a Vieux Donjon every once in a while, we rarely drink Rhône and CA wine at all. I liked this one though and the earthy flavors. Ann said the wine was too sweet, and didn’t prefer it.
April 8, 2021 - Decanted about 90 minutes, little to no sediment. Fresh berry, but also a darker, more brooding fruit. Some garrigue, little spice. Integrated and fairly polished.
January 9, 2021 - Even better than last bottle. Wonderful fruit, acidity, balance, length etc etc. wish I had more.
May 23, 2020 - Quite good. Stylish, serious red cherry fruit, moreish. Good balance. Lacking detail and complexity on finish. Think she's making better wines from recent vintages, but still a good showing for the vintage.