2007 Domaine La Millière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Unique Vieilles Vignes

Community Tasting Note

peebal wrote:

Saturday, March 5, 2022 - From a split. Completely unredeemebly dead. CDP simply does not age the way it did 40-50 years ago. Climate change and vinification techniques that emphasize fruit and alcohol over structure mean wines with a short drinking window. This one of many that has shown this to be true. Recent bottles of Beaucastel and Vieux Telegraph have likewise been terrible. To me, the appelation is no longer interesting particularly given the prices they are now charging.

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4 comments have been posted

Comment posted by spidermark:

2/13/2023 2:35:00 PM - Completely different experience on this end. Been drinking one fantastic CDP after another. But, rarely older than 2007. Had a magnum of 2001 Chateau de Beaucastel CDP Hommage a Jacques Perrin yesterday, that was stunning. And alot of my mack daddy wine friends were amazed at how good it was.

Also drinking some great Gigondas too.
Comment posted by peebal:

2/13/2023 4:42:00 PM - Part of this is attributable to taste but a lot of it is climate change and vinification. These wines used to be vinified to 12-13 percent and had a noticeable acid spine (along w tannins). Today, they clock in at 15% (sometimes they'll say 14%-don't believe it for a second). With the high alcohol the acid has disappeared. I just don't enjoy these monumental plummy wines. I'd rather drink a Loire valley red or a Burgundy (except I'm not rich enough) or if from the Rhône, a Northern Rhone syrah. Again, some of it is a matter of taste: I like wines with finesse (acid!). But the wines from when I first started drinking CDP and today have completely changed (in terms of price, if nothing else). I have plenty of old CDP in my cellar so I'll continue to open them and every now and then. particularly in less touted years, I'll find one I get pleasure from. Just not as many as I'd like.
Comment posted by spidermark:

2/13/2023 5:09:00 PM - I agree this is very subjective. Have you tried a good vintage of Gerard Charvin, or Saint Prefert, like a 2010 Charles Giraud?

Or even a Domaine Pallières Les Racines Gigondas? Alot of QPR. I too love a red burg. But, I only drink them with generous collector friends. Love em, but terrible value.
Comment posted by peebal:

2/13/2023 7:32:00 PM - Charvin is a go to producer of CDP--a poor man's Rayas. So yes, I agree with that choice, including aged. But you certainly can't compare Charvin with Beaucastel or Telegraphe, or Cailloux (though I like Cailloux young a lot). The Jacques Perrin Beaucastel is now $400+ a bottle (I haven't had one in years) and is the antithesis of my kind of wine.

Gigondas, I have been through a dozen or more times. It feels like not that long ago that a standard price from any of a number of producers, including Pallieres, was about $5 when you bought them from the rep in town (they would refuse to give you any advice because they represented all the producers). OK. I'm old.
Back in the late 1990s and early 2000s (1998, 99, 2000, 2001) I had cases of La Bouissiere, Raspail Ay, and Cayron (before they ripped out all their vines) that kept a lot of friends happy. But even those earlier and very good years, kept in a very good cellar (in France) started to get tired. Others continued to like them because they were rich and boozy. I didn't. For me, they were best in the 3-7 year window. I certainly enjoyed them immensely young (and particularly at $5-7 a bottle) but I don't think I'd particularly like the aged version today--except perhaps the Cayron which was from ancient vines I think until the 1999 or 2000 vintage and then went south. The first Cayron I had was in Berkeley from Kermit's wine shop and I think he was selling it for $10. That was a great deal, even at the time when you could actually get things with ten bucks.