Fruit compote, overripe strawberries, cigar ash; soft and plush on the full bodied palate, despite 15 abv no sensation of heat; fresh and spicy with polished tannins, good intensity and length. Lovely sweet fruit here. 17/20
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep ruby. Medium on the nose, very strong barnyard, horse saddle, meaty aromas (Brett?), pepper, dried black berry, tar, leather, medicinal, vegetal, dried herb, earthy. Fully developed. Dry, medium plus acidity, medium tannin, high alcohol, full bodied. Medium plus intensity on the palate with flavours of savoriness, dried herb, dried black cherry. Finish is medium plus. It is actually very good, but I can’t get pass the really strong barnyard aroma which leave this slight aftertaste. Defective? Brett fault? See my subsequent review under comments.
Medium to dark red color. Soft ripe mature fruit and spice flavors. Light tannins in its long finish. Enjoyable now, it will nevertheless hold, and possibly evolve some more for 3-4 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Rich, intense, extracted, very concentrated, notes of kirsch, hints of alcohol, sweet grenache speaking - a manly wine, typical of the domaine and also of the vintage, allthough mostly the first. No signs of fatigue, still, it's a wine for the Emperor of Wine, from his heyday - the times are a changin #Kandestederne
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This bottle definitely showing some signs of age; strong barnyard nose and hints of wet cardboard which thankfully blew off after 30 minutes. Also some thinness and hints of stewed tomatoes, but offset by rich blueberry and kirsch fruit flavors, a bit of smoke and light tannins.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
A little thin perhaps, yet still tannic and chewy, showing black cherry and licorice, with alcohol and some oak noteably present. This bottle was still in great shape and had plenty of life ahead of it. Impressively better than a peer 2005 CdP consumed 11/28. Two hour decant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
The aromatics with this bottle are more muted than one that I had earlier this year. The wine is very mature with some black cherry and other dark red fruits along with good acidity. I can still feel the tannins from this vintage and the alcohol level at 15.5% is heady. A nice CdP, but not spectacular. I would say these have a few more years left in them, but I don’t think they will improve. Actually, they will probably decline from here.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
The wine has an orange rim and nice aromatics with some blue violet notes. On the palate, it has blueberries, concord grape (seems unusual for a CdP), graphite, garrique, and still some drying tannins on the finish. But very pleasant to drink.
I am enjoying the 2nd half of the bottle tonight and it is holding up quite well, but I did lower the score a notch. It is a good, but not great CdP.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Opened by mistake - tasted over two days. It is rich, but also cool, tight and quite vibrant, very concentrated. On day 2, you sense very distant hints of oxidation ... tannins are quite pronounced. Leave this be a couple of years. 91+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Deep ruby color. No detailed TN taken but elements of dark fruit compote and damp leaves, a touch of heat. Full bodied on the palate with a long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Popped and poured. Very good indeed, with a solid, juice, clean and fresh fruit, a wine in great harmony, speaks of the superb vintage, still very young with plenty of tannins at the end, but if you like them young and fresh, this is open for business as of now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Just had the second bottle of this vintage -- still beautiful, in perfect balance, and strong. Had this with a wine group for dinner-- filet mignon with truffles. There were 6 different top flight wines and this one had the raves.
Lots of dark berries, well balanced but the tannins are still not integrated well enough. Despite that, a very good wine. If I had more, I'd check back on them in a couple of years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This wine needed 30-60+ minutes of air to shine. Early on it showed some brett that blew off to show notes of meat juices, roasted herbs and dark fruit. Later in the evening, notes of earth and slate emerged leading to a nice round mouth. This was a great wine and is in no means declining.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Nose was bretty to start off but it blew off after about 20 minutes. Needed more time to open up than we gave it but toward the end it was starting to get interesting. Next time will decant and allow to breathe. Nice wine.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Janasse CDP 2005: Double decanted and sat for 2 hours. Deep ruby core with slight pink streaks along the rim. Dominant casis aroma, hints of ripe plums. A burst a nervy acidity provides a counterpoint to the density of fruit with ripe but persistent tannins. Overall the wine is well balanced but the components have yet to come together. The aromatic profile is still pretty closed at the moment and the secondary notes have yet to develop. This would need more time in the cellar to smoothen out the rough edges.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Janasse CDP 2005: Double decanted and sat for 2 hours. Deep ruby core with slight pink streaks along the rim. Dominant casis aroma, hints of ripe plums. A burst a nervy acidity provides a counterpoint to the density of fruit with ripe but persistent tannins. Overall the wine is well balanced but the components have yet to come together. The aromatic profile is still pretty closed at the moment and the secondary notes have yet to develop. This would need more time in the cellar to smoothen out the rough edges.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Dinner with Soni and Birgit (Vienna): Very healthy and youthful color, opened bottle for a few hours before drinking. Full bodied, overall quite spirity, liquorice, medium finish, went ok with the lamb. A bit over the top for me. Very good plus but leaves me puzzled. Maybe just not my cup of tea. Will wait a bit for the second bottle. Drink or hold.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
An hour or so decant and she woke up and smiled. Had this beauty with braised pheasant and she was fabulous. To me, everything was in balance. The fruit strong and integrated, the tannins smooth as silk, and the finish long and satisfying. She'll last longer, but is wonderful right now.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
After a couple of hours of air this revealed a very port like nose of prune, fig and brown sugar which follows through on the palate with black raspberry jam, herbs and spice which linger on the finish.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Don't drink this without air or time. A sip on opening showed Port and light purple fruit; quite front-palate, with a puff of soft tannin and a wateriness of loose acidity. Decanted off sediment and back into bottle. With meal two hours later it had improved, but wasn't at all showing its full hand. Hints of negatives in small notes of the Port, brown sugar and jam, but those are then suffused by salt/iodine; the palate is more extended, does finish pleasantly dry and there's a hint of tighter Provencal fruit and herbs in the finish. I also checked the next morning and evening. The morning was by far the peak. Fine purple fruit, herbal, Christmas cake. Then a strikingly classy puff in the mid-palate: changing the scene, filling the mouth, introducing weightlessness and setting the stage for a finish which extended and lingered with the essence of dark raspberry, cool herbs, faint mocha chocolate and liquorice. Just a little sweetness and warmth of liqueur, but bound together with a little firm tannin and with delicate acidity which cleanses. That's a great manifestation - really exciting. By the evening sip it had oxidised away to be neutral and tarry. Drink now with 5 hours of conventional airing, or leave 4 more years and drink over the following c8. Will always need some air because it has structure and it has over-ripe edges which need to blow off. Rating 89 for first night; but I'd say can be 94-95 with optimal treatment.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
Started a bit jammy and dark cherry or figs, opened up after decanting and about an hour. Still young, with few (yet) of the nuance and back notes of game and leather that I would expect from CdP. Will definitely leave the others for a few years - or double carafe.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This threw a lot of sediment but was still quite dark. Ripe black fruit nose, plums and and brown sugar as well. roasted sweet dark fruit flavours and a dry finish. Decent.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No
/ Comment
This wine has proven to be very inconsistent. This bottle was very nice, with lots of deep black fruit and terrific balance. This particular bottle seemed to have years of life and evolution left in it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
better impression. Opened three hours before and then carafe-d. Still young. Definitely have to leave sit for a while. No brett though, and the tar receding.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
This really rocked last night. The 3 bottles of this were consistently good - full bodied, clean (no funk), with dark fruit and cherry and fair backbone. Lovely.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
I’ve been ducking my French ‘05s for more than a year; convinced they’d all be utterly closed. I’m going to have to trust my own TNs more though (see Feb ’08), because (whilst, yes, I Bordeaux-decanted for 3 hours) this wine came out immediately as utter rock and roll; majoring on crashing cymbals. Sour red-purple fruits, fig-paste (a spot-on descriptor from a TN below), and a tonne of other spices. The concentration, the brightness, the layers (just beginning to split apart – rather like drinking actual slate): so absurdly superior to the mainstream. Has dropped most of the original dark-fruit cloak, and is starting to major on the AOC typicity of that red-purple fruit and the herby Mediterranean crops. But this wine is seriously unique (I’ve never tasted anything like it) in terms of how it’s delivered: it’s presumably a Janasse-2005-expression thing. Tongue-tanging serious brilliance. The style of the tannins and the acids are so well-matched to the flavour delivery: just wow. I mean, tannins usually dullen or cut, but here they’re a major part of the wine’s pounding vitality. Maybe, just maybe, this style, this poise, is this wine’s peak: maybe the tannin will not ease in proportion to how the fruit goes on to fade. For once I’m not too stressed about that right now: this is addictive wine. 91 to 93, 93. S was even less stressed: when I told her the wine would probably "improve, with age, by softening”, I got an unequivocal, unprecedented response: “You are wrong”. She utterly loved it. One final thing to say is that the alcohol is part of all the intensity and electricity here. Therefore it is, unfortunately, unavoidable. I say unfortunately, because this is shattering, deafening, dehydrating wine; and we didn’t drink the whole bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Drank at home. Aroma of bright red fruits with slight meaty nose. Alcohol is prominent on the palate with mouth coating tannins. Finish was rather short. Good drinking wine for a causal evening.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Alcohol : 15.5% This is clearly 2notches up compare to 2007 Saint-Cosme CDR. Bigger scale, focus and complex that is unmistakeably nose of a CDP, violet, BBQ meat, barnyard, inkish, sweet fig paste core surrounded by ripe dark fruits, mineral with whiff of alcohol. Explosive palate with good intensity and richness with dusty tannins that coat the mouth that giving good grip which is powerful, intense and all well-balance by its good ripe acidity and spicy flavor that framed the high alcohol effortlessly and flow seamlessly into dusty spicy finishing with dried fig paste undertone. Good structure and complex. Still have some upside potential. A terrific entry level CDP. Buy - Yes.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Some nice spice and dark fruit, but it also seemed a bit clumsy and the fruit had a slightly stewed quality. The previous bottle about a year ago was better.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
still young, tight and not much CdP expression, pencil, a bit of tar, but little fruit. Hold on to this for a while if you can, or decant for a couple of hours - mine started to open after 1.5 hours, but way way way from ready.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Châteauneuf-du-Pape: No nose at first, becoming slightly smoky and richer with time. Eventually some garrigue, EtOH, ripe fruits but kind of stewy. Decidedly modern and very young, this improved with air becoming lush and sweet with lots of dark fruit. This wine had me on the fence; on one hand I loved the depth of fruit but on the other I constantly felt like the balance might not be there to provide the polish and class that some others had. 89-90?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
No notes taken, but this wine has done an about-face since the last time I had it. It has shed its burly, unruly, tannic character, and now seems to show some sense of lightness (relatively speaking), garrigue and warm fruit. Nice showing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
dark color, nose did not seem very developed. on the palate typical cnp herbs, peppers, and more dark fruit. did not detect much acidity to balance the fruit. lacked a bit of freshness for me, and the fruit definitely covered whatever tannin was in the wine. full bodied. alcohol shows a bit on the finish. did not think this was my style of wine since tasted a bit too ripe for me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Stated alcohol (per the label) is 14.5% (not sure where others are getting higher numbers; maybe the label understates the actual alcohol). Tasted immediately after decanting. Nose is primary and monolithic; undeveloped. Palate is big, with dense dark fruit; tough, tannic and chewy, with a distinctly charred wood bitterness on the finish. This certainly needs more time, though I'm not sure this is really my style of CnP. After a couple hours in the decanter it remains primary and dense, with a tannic and oaky structure. I'm not sure this will ever become a wine I will enjoy stylistically, but I'll be interested to find out.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
For whatever reason, the Clos Saint Jean CdP (tradition) seemed more memorable, although I certainly got the impression at times that this wine was holding more cards. I bit hard to make it through the alcohol after a while, and elements of the wine came across in a rather disjointed, reductive manner...'primary' some have called it. I'd like to acquire more of these if only to chart the progress, but for approx 10 Euro more, I'd just assume buy the Chaupin. For a more detailed note, my impressions of the wine most closely echo those of Paul S.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Decanted 30 minutes before and enjoyed with a medium to well done rib eye steak, potatoes and cheese bake and green beans. Very fine much more approachable then I expected and continued to evolve in the glass. Ripe dark berries, well structured and sure to age. A little bit heady at the moment at 15.5% but very good, gladly I have more.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Opened by Ray, decanted 3 hours at Tasting Notes, Robertson Quay. Dark inky purple. Red meat initially that faded over time to show a blackcurrant, raisiny nose with faint mocha notes. Dense palate, lovely and plush in the middle of the mouth, with firm but very well formed tannins, with lots of fruit, spice and a burst of alcoholic heat that, at times, threatened to obfuscate the flavours. But still a good, mouth filling finish, with a little more tannic kick with a hint of bittersweet. The heat died down after some time, but so did some of the freshness and sense of structure, leaving the wine just a little abrupt on the finish. Still, this was a very good wine, tremendously enjoyable, good value. It does, however, pale in comparison with the prodigous 2005 VV.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Slightly corked. Remarkable 'modern unoaked ageing wine'. Darkness and initially unattractively OTT big plum-cherry jam flavour queried origin. 15%, whilst not hot, also slowed drinking. Notably smooth. Pages, layers, of flavour; but that book is bound shut.
Day 2. Now the finish tangs tongue with high, tight garrigue. Dregs lead with ubiqitous plum-liqueur and milk choc, but then caramel, stones and herbs: the trace vanguard of greatness. From 87 pts through exilharating 92 at close; with 95+ in prospect. This is a great, remarkable, tradition cuvee. Won't close.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
Upon opening, nose of campfire, spice box, and creasote. Nose shuts down quickly and doesn't show much soon after. Flavors of raspberries and espresso. Great structure - balanced acidity butressed by fine tannin - this one should age well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
France Trip Part 1 - Châteauneuf-du-Pape; 6/16/2006-6/17/2006: Barrel sample tasted at the domaine w/ Christophe Sabon. This was a 100% Grenache component. Animal fur on the nose. Dense plums and cherries. Cola. Big structure and acidity. Teeth-staining. Excellent potential.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No
/ Comment
11/11/2023 - k H i L o Likes this wine: 92 Points
92.5 :-)
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/13/2023 - k H i L o Likes this wine: 92 Points
Ah, super ! Moitié rock'n roll moitié jazz.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/4/2023 - ploher wrote:
Fruit compote, overripe strawberries, cigar ash; soft and plush on the full bodied palate, despite 15 abv no sensation of heat; fresh and spicy with polished tannins, good intensity and length. Lovely sweet fruit here. 17/20
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/7/2022 - Chrisinroch wrote:
It’s very soft & plush with plummy fruit. It’s fine. Just not my palate.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/16/2022 - ericpoh1980 Likes this wine: 91 Points
Deep ruby. Medium on the nose, very strong barnyard, horse saddle, meaty aromas (Brett?), pepper, dried black berry, tar, leather, medicinal, vegetal, dried herb, earthy. Fully developed. Dry, medium plus acidity, medium tannin, high alcohol, full bodied. Medium plus intensity on the palate with flavours of savoriness, dried herb, dried black cherry. Finish is medium plus. It is actually very good, but I can’t get pass the really strong barnyard aroma which leave this slight aftertaste. Defective? Brett fault? See my subsequent review under comments.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (1)
3/15/2022 - Chrisinroch wrote:
Totally integrated and mature. Drink up.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/3/2022 - VinhoVerde Likes this wine: 92 Points
Medium to dark red color. Soft ripe mature fruit and spice flavors. Light tannins in its long finish. Enjoyable now, it will nevertheless hold, and possibly evolve some more for 3-4 years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/22/2020 - jcr2000 wrote:
Accessed
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/18/2020 - Animalmom2 wrote:
Massive CNDP drank with Duck Confit on a Sunday afternoon. Great value at the price point, fruity and almost a bit dolce.
Worried I had left it late, not the case. Enjoy now
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/29/2020 - beatles wrote: 91 Points
Rich, intense, extracted, very concentrated, notes of kirsch, hints of alcohol, sweet grenache speaking - a manly wine, typical of the domaine and also of the vintage, allthough mostly the first. No signs of fatigue, still, it's a wine for the Emperor of Wine, from his heyday - the times are a changin
#Kandestederne
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/9/2020 - winejnky wrote:
This bottle definitely showing some signs of age; strong barnyard nose and hints of wet cardboard which thankfully blew off after 30 minutes. Also some thinness and hints of stewed tomatoes, but offset by rich blueberry and kirsch fruit flavors, a bit of smoke and light tannins.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/30/2019 - dougie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Going strong. A long ways to go. Beautiful and big. But, smoothing around the edges.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/26/2019 - winejnky wrote: 92 Points
A little thin perhaps, yet still tannic and chewy, showing black cherry and licorice, with alcohol and some oak noteably present. This bottle was still in great shape and had plenty of life ahead of it. Impressively better than a peer 2005 CdP consumed 11/28. Two hour decant.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/29/2019 - dougie Likes this wine: 92 Points
Time is helping this wine. Wait a few years for next one; seems like 2025 looks good to me for last one.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/11/2018 - JM_MadTown Likes this wine: 90 Points
The aromatics with this bottle are more muted than one that I had earlier this year. The wine is very mature with some black cherry and other dark red fruits along with good acidity. I can still feel the tannins from this vintage and the alcohol level at 15.5% is heady. A nice CdP, but not spectacular. I would say these have a few more years left in them, but I don’t think they will improve. Actually, they will probably decline from here.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
3/7/2018 - JM_MadTown Likes this wine: 90 Points
The wine has an orange rim and nice aromatics with some blue violet notes. On the palate, it has blueberries, concord grape (seems unusual for a CdP), graphite, garrique, and still some drying tannins on the finish. But very pleasant to drink.
I am enjoying the 2nd half of the bottle tonight and it is holding up quite well, but I did lower the score a notch. It is a good, but not great CdP.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/3/2018 - Roentgen Ray Likes this wine: 92 Points
Graphite, blueberry, raspberry, textured tannins, moderate structure, and aromatic.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
1/15/2018 - brooklynJ&O wrote: 92 Points
great balance. Would not have guessed CNP if blind. Everyone loved it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/13/2017 - beatles wrote: 91 Points
Opened by mistake - tasted over two days. It is rich, but also cool, tight and quite vibrant, very concentrated. On day 2, you sense very distant hints of oxidation ... tannins are quite pronounced. Leave this be a couple of years. 91+
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/23/2017 - Chrisinroch Likes this wine:
Very modern and smooth. No funk. Not mind-blowing, but Tasty and well made. Paired w coq au vin nicely.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/17/2017 - David J Cooper wrote: 92 Points
Drank for my birthday, A really nice CdP in it's secondary stage. Earthy funky red and black fruit. Long tannic finish. Should go another decade.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/16/2017 - dougsmith Likes this wine: 90 Points
Deep ruby color. No detailed TN taken but elements of dark fruit compote and damp leaves, a touch of heat. Full bodied on the palate with a long finish.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/13/2017 - beatles wrote: 92 Points
Popped and poured. Very good indeed, with a solid, juice, clean and fresh fruit, a wine in great harmony, speaks of the superb vintage, still very young with plenty of tannins at the end, but if you like them young and fresh, this is open for business as of now.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/24/2016 - brubron wrote:
Fabulous!
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/23/2016 - dougie Likes this wine: 91 Points
Kind of clunky at the beginning. Became more defined throughout the evening. After 5 hours, light blueberry emerged and made it quite beautiful. 90-93
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/25/2016 - CRAUBER4242 wrote:
Nothing like my previous bottle. Closed down so I shouldn't score it. Showed decent but not like it should.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/6/2016 - brubron wrote:
Just had the second bottle of this vintage -- still beautiful, in perfect balance, and strong.
Had this with a wine group for dinner-- filet mignon with truffles. There were 6 different top flight wines and this one had the raves.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comments (2)
1/29/2016 - dougie Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow! A lot more ready than I thought. Great balance. Just entering its drinking window.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/24/2015 - Machiavellian Likes this wine: 92 Points
Lots of dark berries, well balanced but the tannins are still not integrated well enough. Despite that, a very good wine. If I had more, I'd check back on them in a couple of years.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/9/2015 - CRAUBER4242 Likes this wine: 93 Points
This wine needed 30-60+ minutes of air to shine. Early on it showed some brett that blew off to show notes of meat juices, roasted herbs and dark fruit. Later in the evening, notes of earth and slate emerged leading to a nice round mouth. This was a great wine and is in no means declining.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/3/2015 - hiker_guy wrote:
Nose was bretty to start off but it blew off after about 20 minutes.
Needed more time to open up than we gave it but toward the end it was starting to get interesting.
Next time will decant and allow to breathe. Nice wine.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/30/2015 - Vinedict wrote:
Janasse CDP 2005: Double decanted and sat for 2 hours. Deep ruby core with slight pink streaks along the rim. Dominant casis aroma, hints of ripe plums. A burst a nervy acidity provides a counterpoint to the density of fruit with ripe but persistent tannins. Overall the wine is well balanced but the components have yet to come together. The aromatic profile is still pretty closed at the moment and the secondary notes have yet to develop. This would need more time in the cellar to smoothen out the rough edges.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/29/2015 - Vinedict wrote:
Janasse CDP 2005: Double decanted and sat for 2 hours. Deep ruby core with slight pink streaks along the rim. Dominant casis aroma, hints of ripe plums. A burst a nervy acidity provides a counterpoint to the density of fruit with ripe but persistent tannins. Overall the wine is well balanced but the components have yet to come together. The aromatic profile is still pretty closed at the moment and the secondary notes have yet to develop. This would need more time in the cellar to smoothen out the rough edges.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
3/11/2015 - Finare Vinare wrote: 89 Points
Ripe, oaky and chocolatey style, not very ch9 but... sort of balanced and enjoyable... if you can stand the thickness. No more of this for us.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
2/28/2015 - robs_r wrote:
Dinner with Soni and Birgit (Vienna): Very healthy and youthful color, opened bottle for a few hours before drinking. Full bodied, overall quite spirity, liquorice, medium finish, went ok with the lamb. A bit over the top for me. Very good plus but leaves me puzzled. Maybe just not my cup of tea. Will wait a bit for the second bottle. Drink or hold.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/9/2014 - brubron Likes this wine:
An hour or so decant and she woke up and smiled.
Had this beauty with braised pheasant and she was fabulous.
To me, everything was in balance. The fruit strong and integrated, the tannins smooth as silk, and the finish long and satisfying. She'll last longer, but is wonderful right now.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
6/15/2014 - Donjcorleone Likes this wine: 91 Points
After a couple of hours of air this revealed a very port like nose of prune, fig and brown sugar which follows through on the palate with black raspberry jam, herbs and spice which linger on the finish.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
3/27/2014 - astroman Does not like this wine:
To big for my liking
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
11/9/2013 - Sixchips600 Likes this wine: 93 Points
Still massive wine. Lots of fruit but balanced by earthy tannins. Has long life ahead.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
12/5/2012 - campingfleurie Likes this wine: 89 Points
Don't drink this without air or time. A sip on opening showed Port and light purple fruit; quite front-palate, with a puff of soft tannin and a wateriness of loose acidity. Decanted off sediment and back into bottle. With meal two hours later it had improved, but wasn't at all showing its full hand. Hints of negatives in small notes of the Port, brown sugar and jam, but those are then suffused by salt/iodine; the palate is more extended, does finish pleasantly dry and there's a hint of tighter Provencal fruit and herbs in the finish. I also checked the next morning and evening. The morning was by far the peak. Fine purple fruit, herbal, Christmas cake. Then a strikingly classy puff in the mid-palate: changing the scene, filling the mouth, introducing weightlessness and setting the stage for a finish which extended and lingered with the essence of dark raspberry, cool herbs, faint mocha chocolate and liquorice. Just a little sweetness and warmth of liqueur, but bound together with a little firm tannin and with delicate acidity which cleanses. That's a great manifestation - really exciting. By the evening sip it had oxidised away to be neutral and tarry. Drink now with 5 hours of conventional airing, or leave 4 more years and drink over the following c8. Will always need some air because it has structure and it has over-ripe edges which need to blow off. Rating 89 for first night; but I'd say can be 94-95 with optimal treatment.
2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/12/2012 - bacchusnyon wrote: 88 Points
Started a bit jammy and dark cherry or figs, opened up after decanting and about an hour. Still young, with few (yet) of the nuance and back notes of game and leather that I would expect from CdP. Will definitely leave the others for a few years - or double carafe.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
9/3/2012 - David J Cooper wrote: 88 Points
This threw a lot of sediment but was still quite dark. Ripe black fruit nose, plums and and brown sugar as well. roasted sweet dark fruit flavours and a dry finish. Decent.
1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment
5/5/2012 - psi wrote: 90 Points
Deep black fruit, licorice and herbs. Good balance. Does not take your breath away...
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
4/10/2012 - smkl123 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Wonderful wine. Had with Greek lamb dinner. Fully integrated, but still a bit young...secondary flavor can develop as well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/1/2011 - xwine wrote:
This wine has proven to be very inconsistent. This bottle was very nice, with lots of deep black fruit and terrific balance. This particular bottle seemed to have years of life and evolution left in it.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
10/7/2011 - bacchusnyon wrote: 90 Points
better impression. Opened three hours before and then carafe-d. Still young. Definitely have to leave sit for a while. No brett though, and the tar receding.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
3/6/2011 - 2Travel wrote: 93 Points
This really rocked last night. The 3 bottles of this were consistently good - full bodied, clean (no funk), with dark fruit and cherry and fair backbone. Lovely.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/27/2011 - 2Travel wrote: 91 Points
Very nice new style CdP - clean and concentrated.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/5/2010 - campingfleurie wrote: 93 Points
I’ve been ducking my French ‘05s for more than a year; convinced they’d all be utterly closed. I’m going to have to trust my own TNs more though (see Feb ’08), because (whilst, yes, I Bordeaux-decanted for 3 hours) this wine came out immediately as utter rock and roll; majoring on crashing cymbals. Sour red-purple fruits, fig-paste (a spot-on descriptor from a TN below), and a tonne of other spices. The concentration, the brightness, the layers (just beginning to split apart – rather like drinking actual slate): so absurdly superior to the mainstream. Has dropped most of the original dark-fruit cloak, and is starting to major on the AOC typicity of that red-purple fruit and the herby Mediterranean crops. But this wine is seriously unique (I’ve never tasted anything like it) in terms of how it’s delivered: it’s presumably a Janasse-2005-expression thing. Tongue-tanging serious brilliance. The style of the tannins and the acids are so well-matched to the flavour delivery: just wow. I mean, tannins usually dullen or cut, but here they’re a major part of the wine’s pounding vitality. Maybe, just maybe, this style, this poise, is this wine’s peak: maybe the tannin will not ease in proportion to how the fruit goes on to fade. For once I’m not too stressed about that right now: this is addictive wine. 91 to 93, 93. S was even less stressed: when I told her the wine would probably "improve, with age, by softening”, I got an unequivocal, unprecedented response: “You are wrong”. She utterly loved it. One final thing to say is that the alcohol is part of all the intensity and electricity here. Therefore it is, unfortunately, unavoidable. I say unfortunately, because this is shattering, deafening, dehydrating wine; and we didn’t drink the whole bottle.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/25/2010 - astroman wrote:
Drank at home. Aroma of bright red fruits with slight meaty nose. Alcohol is prominent on the palate with mouth coating tannins. Finish was rather short. Good drinking wine for a causal evening.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/17/2010 - Sleepy Dave wrote:
Alcohol : 15.5%
This is clearly 2notches up compare to 2007 Saint-Cosme CDR. Bigger scale, focus and complex that is unmistakeably nose of a CDP, violet, BBQ meat, barnyard, inkish, sweet fig paste core surrounded by ripe dark fruits, mineral with whiff of alcohol. Explosive palate with good intensity and richness with dusty tannins that coat the mouth that giving good grip which is powerful, intense and all well-balance by its good ripe acidity and spicy flavor that framed the high alcohol effortlessly and flow seamlessly into dusty spicy finishing with dried fig paste undertone. Good structure and complex. Still have some upside potential. A terrific entry level CDP. Buy - Yes.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/16/2010 - xwine wrote:
Some nice spice and dark fruit, but it also seemed a bit clumsy and the fruit had a slightly stewed quality. The previous bottle about a year ago was better.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/6/2010 - bacchusnyon wrote: 88 Points
still young, tight and not much CdP expression, pencil, a bit of tar, but little fruit. Hold on to this for a while if you can, or decant for a couple of hours - mine started to open after 1.5 hours, but way way way from ready.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/17/2010 - andtheodor wrote: 89 Points
Châteauneuf-du-Pape: No nose at first, becoming slightly smoky and richer with time. Eventually some garrigue, EtOH, ripe fruits but kind of stewy. Decidedly modern and very young, this improved with air becoming lush and sweet with lots of dark fruit. This wine had me on the fence; on one hand I loved the depth of fruit but on the other I constantly felt like the balance might not be there to provide the polish and class that some others had. 89-90?
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/15/2009 - MoreWinePlease wrote: 92 Points
Drank too soon in a pop/pour moment but tasty nonetheless. Could use 2-3yrs. to really come into its own.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
8/8/2009 - xwine wrote:
No notes taken, but this wine has done an about-face since the last time I had it. It has shed its burly, unruly, tannic character, and now seems to show some sense of lightness (relatively speaking), garrigue and warm fruit. Nice showing.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/21/2009 - Finare Vinare wrote: 91 Points
Really good, with the right structure for laying down. More so than the loose-knit, generous 2006.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/2/2009 - lean88j wrote: 89 Points
dark color, nose did not seem very developed. on the palate typical cnp herbs, peppers, and more dark fruit. did not detect much acidity to balance the fruit. lacked a bit of freshness for me, and the fruit definitely covered whatever tannin was in the wine. full bodied. alcohol shows a bit on the finish. did not think this was my style of wine since tasted a bit too ripe for me.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/15/2008 - xwine wrote:
Stated alcohol (per the label) is 14.5% (not sure where others are getting higher numbers; maybe the label understates the actual alcohol). Tasted immediately after decanting. Nose is primary and monolithic; undeveloped. Palate is big, with dense dark fruit; tough, tannic and chewy, with a distinctly charred wood bitterness on the finish. This certainly needs more time, though I'm not sure this is really my style of CnP. After a couple hours in the decanter it remains primary and dense, with a tannic and oaky structure. I'm not sure this will ever become a wine I will enjoy stylistically, but I'll be interested to find out.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
12/12/2008 - jvogel wrote:
For whatever reason, the Clos Saint Jean CdP (tradition) seemed more memorable, although I certainly got the impression at times that this wine was holding more cards. I bit hard to make it through the alcohol after a while, and elements of the wine came across in a rather disjointed, reductive manner...'primary' some have called it. I'd like to acquire more of these if only to chart the progress, but for approx 10 Euro more, I'd just assume buy the Chaupin. For a more detailed note, my impressions of the wine most closely echo those of Paul S.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/11/2008 - FakeAccount wrote: 92 Points
Again, with consistent notes.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
7/5/2008 - davejm wrote: 93 Points
Decanted 30 minutes before and enjoyed with a medium to well done rib eye steak, potatoes and cheese bake and green beans. Very fine much more approachable then I expected and continued to evolve in the glass. Ripe dark berries, well structured and sure to age. A little bit heady at the moment at 15.5% but very good, gladly I have more.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
5/11/2008 - Paul S wrote: 93 Points
Opened by Ray, decanted 3 hours at Tasting Notes, Robertson Quay. Dark inky purple. Red meat initially that faded over time to show a blackcurrant, raisiny nose with faint mocha notes. Dense palate, lovely and plush in the middle of the mouth, with firm but very well formed tannins, with lots of fruit, spice and a burst of alcoholic heat that, at times, threatened to obfuscate the flavours. But still a good, mouth filling finish, with a little more tannic kick with a hint of bittersweet. The heat died down after some time, but so did some of the freshness and sense of structure, leaving the wine just a little abrupt on the finish. Still, this was a very good wine, tremendously enjoyable, good value. It does, however, pale in comparison with the prodigous 2005 VV.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
2/15/2008 - campingfleurie wrote: 92 Points
Slightly corked. Remarkable 'modern unoaked ageing wine'. Darkness and initially unattractively OTT big plum-cherry jam flavour queried origin. 15%, whilst not hot, also slowed drinking. Notably smooth. Pages, layers, of flavour; but that book is bound shut.
Day 2. Now the finish tangs tongue with high, tight garrigue. Dregs lead with ubiqitous plum-liqueur and milk choc, but then caramel, stones and herbs: the trace vanguard of greatness. From 87 pts through exilharating 92 at close; with 95+ in prospect. This is a great, remarkable, tradition cuvee. Won't close.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
11/5/2007 - FakeAccount wrote: 93 Points
Upon opening, nose of campfire, spice box, and creasote. Nose shuts down quickly and doesn't show much soon after. Flavors of raspberries and espresso. Great structure - balanced acidity butressed by fine tannin - this one should age well.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/18/2007 - Wien wrote:
Very pleasant. Compared to another bottle drunk 3 weeks ago this seems more closed.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
9/12/2007 - Wien wrote:
Great wine. A real pleasure to drink now, but a lot of firmness in the wine to last.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/16/2006 - Siggy wrote:
France Trip Part 1 - Châteauneuf-du-Pape; 6/16/2006-6/17/2006: Barrel sample tasted at the domaine w/ Christophe Sabon. This was a 100% Grenache component. Animal fur on the nose. Dense plums and cherries. Cola. Big structure and acidity. Teeth-staining. Excellent potential.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment
6/16/2006 - Ben Andersen wrote:
Barrel sample tasted at the domaine. More acid and tannic structure than the CdR Garrigues. Black cherry fruit. Looks promising.
Do you find this review helpful? Yes - No / Comment