Last open five years ago. Deep ruby color. Rich concentrated fruit in the nose and flavor. Black cherries, black currants, figs, chocolate, licorice, and floral in the nose with hints of herbalness. Black raspberries, blackberries, black currants, blueberries, plums, and licorice in the flavor with mineral notes in the finish. A very well balanced wine, full bodied, complex, and a long lingering smooth finish. 97/98
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Wow. PNP. In a great spot. Very balanced. Bright fruit and some structure. Tiny bit of heat on the end. Don't think it needs much of a decant at this point.
Addendum: coravin broke halfway through this bottle so I opened it and had a glass left for next night. Used the wine-saver pump. Wine had deteriorated quite a bit after 23 hours. Structure broke down completely. I didn’t change my score because this wine was fantastic on PNP, but I definitely wouldn’t decant and I’m planning on drinking the rest of these up soon. I believe the window is closing.
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Our first time to try this wine, and our expectations were high (100 by Parker); somehow, it exceeded the expectations. The nose was full of red and black fruit perfume, jammy yet with precision. Soft in the mouth with any tannins fully resolved. Fruit flavors continued to dominate, but I don't think further aging will be beneficial. This was singing, and amazing, paired beautifully with a 2019 Cantina Terlano Terlaner I Primo. We switched back and forth all night between this red and white wine, and debated which was better. These are strong contenders for any occasion that demands a red and white wine for guests worth the cost!
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Ouvert la veille, bouchon remis dessus. Nez sauce au BBQ. La texture est tendre et suave, le vin montre une bonne profondeur et longueur, une rondeur épicée. C'est mûr et concentré mai tout de même harmonieux. 93 pts
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Nose: blackcurrant jam, pepper, tar, hoisin, honey, rose buds Notes: Opened for 3 hours before drinking. I have tasted many different vintages and different cuvees of this wine in the past year or two and what I noticed is very dominant hoisin sauce and soy sauce in the beginning. I would imagine a lot of people do not have the patience to wait through that stage to get to the incredible aromas afterwards. Slowly a heavy but fresh honey aroma starts to form and a nice rose bud aroma comes with it, this happens when the rather savory nose of hoisin sauce and soy goes away. The palate then becomes rather sweet and delightful with a very nice blackcurrant aftertaste. This wine is relatively full bodied still and I would anticipate another 5-6 years to cellaring to get the optimal level. Supposedly one of the greatest vintage of this Domaine I am really seeing plenty of potential in this wine and reaffirms my belief that this will be an up and coming maker in a complicated region like Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Rating: 92+ Drink: 2028+
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Mostly CDP dinner (The Capital Grille at Tysons corner, VA): Medium expressive nose displaying very ripe slightly dry black fruit, blackberry liqueur, fruitcake, licorice, brown sugar, grilled meat, tree bark and earth. There is a bit of heat at the end. Excellent concentration, packed black fruit, rich, bright acidity, earthy mineral, and a long ripe black fruit driven finish with licorice and brown sugar at the end. It is a bit hot and monolithic, IMO. I am not sure if this will improve. YMMV.
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Second try in a month from different owners. I have to say I don’t see the current ratings on CT let alone the 100 point rating. First bottle very raisiny. Maybe slightly off. But this is not much better. Heat is quite annoying and even slightly upsetting the stomach. Fruit Is a little better then the first bottle but Clos des Papes 2007 was way better in my opinion. I guess this proves the 2007 vintage is not build for the long haul. Hopefully some air will improve this impression but so far not impressed. Maybe it’s me but I have to say that the others were also not positive about this wine. And I do usually like chateauneuf so I dunno know. Last time buying Clos st. Jean for me I think. I prefer Beaucastel or Barroche Pure. Hope I was just unlucky with 2 subpar bottles and you guys have all the good ones :-)
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This is my best 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape to date. I don’t like the boldness of that vintage and hence my expectations were low. Last year, the sister bottling (Deus Ex-Machina 2007) got a mere 90 pts as it had just too much of everything. This bottle, however, surprised by its relative (!) finesse and purity. As most of these 2007s, the wine is pretty layered but contrary to most, the ripeness, extraction levels are in check and the alcohol is not detectable. It is quite balanced and harmonious, with a superb structural frame and good to drink today with a long decant. 94/95 points.
TN: Not the most expressive nose with ripe dark red berries, some kirsch and garrigue. More open and singing on the palate with ripe but pure red berries, lots of garrigue, cedar and tobacco, baking spices and hints of chocolate. The highlight is the structure and texture with very fine tannins, a beautiful roundness, the right amount of creaminess balanced by a good, well integrated acidity. No excess weight and concentration but a very good balanced and a beautifully elegant and long finish.
Decanting: Decanted for 4 hours and it needed it (at first much riper, raisiny and less open), got even better the longer it sit in the glass. Don’t be afraid to go for 6 hours.
Glass: Zalto Bordeaux
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Mild funk, silky mouthfeel. This is the best in the palate of the three: la Combe des Fous, cuvée de mon aieul, and clos des papes. Restrained, nope. Lots of brine emerging. Pushing my limit. This one is clean, direct, focused. Compared to the others, this one is the entire picture even if it’s not my style.
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4h decant. Candid, ripe fruit mostly dark but later more red cherry. Olives, sweet spices of gingerbread and herbal complexity. High-octane palate. Full-bodied and muscular yet manages to come across lightly structured, helped by a juicy aroma profile. Lots of acidity and mouth-coating tannin, but all in great balance hence feels round and settled. After a while in the glass the texture becomes incredibly velvety, mirroring a constant evolution in the glass, getting better and better and developing smoky and tobacco angles, precise cedar box and a ton of chocolate. Simply fabulous to drink.
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Medium dark red, browny hue; dark fruit, tobacco, licorice; very smooth with creamy light caramel, slightly dry tannins at the end; really long pleasant aftertaste; really good, smooth, drinkable with a layer of creamy texture
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Clear medium garnet; clean medium plus nose of balsamic, dried figs, olive brine and leather; dry; high acidity; medium plus tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is jammy with addition of cocoa; long finish; exceptional wine - did not pick it out as a chateauneuf in a blind tasting - so intense and powerful; intensity faded after about an hour
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Has certainly improved since 2018 tasting. Tasted along side the 2006 Alban Lorraine, it was impossible to pick a WOTN. Both incredible, the 2007 La Combe des Fous had tons of rich concentrated fruit. Black cherries, black currants, blueberries, figs, chocolate, licorice, and floral in the nose. Black raspberries, black currants, plums, and licorice in the flavor. A well balanced wine, full bodied, complex, and a long lingering smooth finish.
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Clear medium garnet; clean medium nose of dried plums, leather, cocoa, black cherries, rosemary, bacon, cinnamon, vanilla and toast; dry; medium plus acidity; medium plus tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; medium plus flavor intensity; pfn with addition of cassis and black licorice; long finish; outstanding quality; drink now or in another 5 years; started out a little hot - but became beautifully balanced and intense after decanting
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Last bottle from a six-bottle purchase (at the Chicago Wine Company) The wine is very deep purple but I see an amber tint on the rim. Nose has a maderized aroma, like shellac, but the primary fruit does come through as a muted crème-de-cassis with notes of vanilla and carrot-cake. Palate is a bit muddled: the fruit is sweet but unfocused and once again you pick up that sherry-like note. The finish is somewhat short. Given that this is a fairly young bottle, I'll rate it as 86 and in steep decline. It was in a cool cellar since purchase, and was shipped in cool weather. No reason to suspect anything about storage here, and the source was very trustworthy. Just a wine that was best on release (I rated it 95, and have consumed all six as of now) and has slowly declined ever since.
Decanted 3-4 hours, but this wine definitely needs some time. Blueberries, black raspberries, currants, figs, with some floral, earthiness, and licorice. Full bodied wine with nice complexity, and a long finish.
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Meaty and funky nose. Bacon fat. Oregano? More sweet fruit, Blackberry. Dark raspberry, plum, fig , dried fruit. Tasted blind against the ‘07 Deus Ex Machina.
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Black tea, cedar, smoke and grilled meat on the nose. Complex wine with lavender, orange peel, cherries, subtle pepper and clove. Moderate tannins especially on the finish but it ended with a very nice dark fruit and blackberries. This had a little more depth and complexity tonight than the Deus Ex Machina. Both were excellent.
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Chateauneuf-Du Pape, The 2007 Vintage, A 10 Year Retrospective: Wine 11 of 18 in a 2007 CdP retrospective. Surrounded by a lot of other 2007s- Not a lot of notes but a very nice wine with good nose and flavors more on the red fruit end of the spectrum with ripe almost candied flavors of red cherries and cassis and good finish.
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Misc Tasting - Terkel Style (Birkerød): Lots of cherry fruit but also lots of steel and iron with a touch of cabbage. It is still a fresh wine but it does seem to have aged faster than I would have expected. The alcohol is dominating a little bit but overall a great wine.
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Nez de kirsch, d'épices. La bouche est pleine et ronde, avec de l'alcool certes (16.2!), mais la matière a la profondeur pour assurer un certain équilibre. Encore jeune mais plus de muscle que d'esprit à ce stade. La puissance est bien contenue, mais le vin manque de complexité pour s'approcher des notes ronflantes reçues. 92 (+) pts en l'état. Je crois qu'il faut l'attendre trois à cinq ans encore.
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A private dinner (Restaurant MOS, Amsterdam, NL): A blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Vaccarèse and 10% Cinsault. Initially quite stalky on the nose, rich and powerful, sweet and tannic, hot, hint of marc, really big Grenache weight and volume (16.5% ABV), undergrowth, tannic, uneasy, velvety, long. Impressive but disjointed. Maybe with time? Score based on potential.
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I think my expectations were too high for this one after reading Robert Parkers 100 point review. Sometimes with these "perfect" wines, I feel like while they have no flaws they also have very little "wow factor". This wine is great, no question about it, very elegant. I guess I just wanted a bit more fruit, personally... but I can see why a lot of people would really love this. Not worth $300 for my palate though...
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Full bodied, deep, rich and intense, with serious concentration of flavor, the wine coats your palate with beautiful ripe, sweet, pure fruits and silky, opulent textures. The finish lingers for close to 50 seconds. The wine could be even better than this note, but being opened during Thanksgiving, I did not have time to focus on it.
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Occasional dinner group: Riesling GG and 100 RP point wines: Bouquet with ripe fruits and beautiful garrigue. Same on the palate, beautiful acidity and mild tannin. Unlike many 2007 C9duP wines this wine is very elegant and also full bodied. Beautiful and harmonious with still a good future. Beautiful wine! 96+
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Lunch with Chris and Joey; Non-Blind (Bin 75): From magnum. Was hoping to not like this, but unfortunately it was really good. Surprised how soft and not over extracted the wine was. Also aging on a really good arc unlike many '07s I've had recently. Though delicious it didn't stand out as a favorite in the lineup.
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Wow...rich! In a good way. And when was the last time that a CdP was described as soft in the mouth? This wine was amazing. Soft, velvety, rich, but very balanced. Lots to bright fruit, berries, garrigue. Really drinking well right now. I'm lucky to have a lot of this and I'm going to be drinking them regularly.
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I would be a liar if I said I hadn’t high expectations for this wine. Its showing was awesome, although none of us wasn’t disappointed. Good thing with this kind of wine: a disappointment comes with some tacit notes of fireplace, chunks of cinnamon with dried oranges; a mouth shyly feminine, delivering a more concentrated dose of its stuff, with a truly and brilliantly long final developing on some notes of cocoa. This was a funky, brilliant, experience, but I felt the wine was undergoing a taciturn period. 97 points
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2007 Clos St. Jean La Combe des Fous is made from a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Vaccarese and 10% Cinsault. It's obvious that the wine is off the charts from the first whiff. Super ripe aromas of black raspberry, black cherry liqueur, licorice, blueberries, herbs, pepper, earth and spice might start the show. But the massive layers of perfectly ripe berries with the texture of polished motor oil take over every nook and cranny of your mouth, teeth, gums and palate. Yet, with all its density and structure, everything is in perfect balance and harmony. Lush, opulent and expansive, this is a stunning wine with serious intensity of flavor and depth. Still young and primary, this should hit triple digits in a few years, and if someone wanted to give it 100 Pts today, why not. Tasted blind, this Chateauneuf du Pape showed itself to be a remarkable wine. I wish I owned some.
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Exuberant nose of cherry and blackcurrant fruit coupled with herbs like thyme and lavender, camphora, ink and toast. Smooth texture and full body, very concentrated but fluid with lingering finish. This is a dark fruited CdP of great quality, slightly disjointed now as I feel it needs a few years to round up a bit. A potentially perfect wine.
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What a night! Having this masterpiece right after Sine Qua Non Into The Dark, makes it a" once in a lifetime" wine-drinking experience. Dark purple. Youthful, yet extremely refined and complex nose, with violets, kirsch, garrigue, dark berries amd sweet spice. Full-bodied, rich, with soft tannins and balancing acidity. Endless aftertaste. Quite primary, will improve over the next decade. A great CdP.
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Tasted after the Sine Qua Non. A rich & opulent style with less oak treatment. Superb structure with elegant acidity and slightly hot alcohol. Dense with fruit purity, character and long finish. An impressive Chateauneuf that is still young, needing some time for all elements to come together. Stll an outstanding wine focused and well structured.
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Medium purple. Floral nose, fruits, earth and a very strong wack of alcohol. On the palette, tight, extracted, some sweet fruit but again the alcohol overwhelms everything else. Not drinkable. Day two, the same. Day three, starting to oxidize, poured down the drain.
After reading other reviews it seems like this may have been a bad bottle? Cork was good, bought from a good suppler on release and stored in cold cellar. Also tasted the VV bought at same time, and while not a style I personally like, the wine was fine.
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Very perfumed beautiful nose, with everything from meats, pepper, blackberry, licorice, pomegranate, and some baking spice maybe cinnamon or allspice. This has a lot going on. Fantastic texture, great structure, fruit, and minerality. This is the only vintage where I have preferred this bottling to the Deus. brilliant. 98 pts
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Zachys Robin Hood 2010 Wine Tasting (La venue, NYC): really nice. sweet red fruit, candied cherry, but with some brooding spice notes below. chocolaty powdered tannins appear on the late midpalate and lead into a long, dark finish. really interesting evolution in the mouth. a little bit of heat appears late in the finish.
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Immediate appeal here. Extracted, sweet fruit meets the nose. Polished, extracted cherry fruit on the palate, pepper and spices. Again I notice the sweetnes and a chocolately mark. Not terribly complex, this is an easy drinker today. I can see why some people fall for this wine. No objections per se, but this is not for me. Zachys 2010 Wine Tasting to Benefit Robin Hood. After note: I just checked the price for this wine on winesearcher. $375 and up. Eh. I hope there's a comma missing?, it really should be a $37,50 wine. Max. I can easily see this one follow the Aussie wines down the gutter.
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Very primary right now. The wine is purple/black with a thick appearance. Nose is somewhat spicy and runs to black plum fruit, cannuba wax, brioche, and curiously, strawberries that you get at the end rather than up front. Powerful and ripe, rich on the palate and rather mouth coating, but also painfully young right now. Very much needs cellar time, but has the potential to evolve nicely. Call it a 95-97pt bottle, but I'll rate it 95 to be on the safe side today. Has much in common with the 2007 Clos des Papes (and less in common with Pegau, Chave, Marcoux).
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Opened. Dark berries, buttermilk. Almost jammy. Decanted. Drank over several hours, at first accompanying roast chicken with herbes des provence. Quickly it developed licorice, garrique, tar-like flavours. A spectacular wine, although the 2005 was more crisp and linear. It almost tastes like prime australian syrah from a cool year... I respect Parker, but as to what i've tasted so far, i find 2005 superior to 2007 and i think most of the 2005's will also age better, but that's just me.
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Nice sweet boisenberry nose with light earthy underbrush. Quite fresh. Palate was red fruit forward in soft yet spicy style. Obviously quite young, yet quite drinkable now. Long rich red furit finish. Impressive stuff especially the nice zippy quality and sweet tannins. Opened for John V Bday. Not mind blowing, but quaite tasty.
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Uncorked DK does 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Aarø & Co): Dark red. Utterly stunning and delicious nose with loads of smoke, truffles, incense and espresso. The mouth is filled with incredibly delicate and intense fruit with loads of herbs and depth. Great length. This is not just very sexy, but also brooding, big, sweet and very complex. Will most certainly be a 100p wine sometime in the future. (U99,3 - I wonder if this is our highest group average ever?)
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Powerfull spicy nose, meaty, black fruit, licorice... incredibly exploding in the month with black fruit, spicy, juicy meat... whaouwwwww... what a great wine... I first put a perfect score , but downgraded it to 99/100 after tasting the Janasse VV and the Deus Ex Machina
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4/12/2024 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 97 Points
Last open five years ago. Deep ruby color. Rich concentrated fruit in the nose and flavor. Black cherries, black currants, figs, chocolate, licorice, and floral in the nose with hints of herbalness. Black raspberries, blackberries, black currants, blueberries, plums, and licorice in the flavor with mineral notes in the finish. A very well balanced wine, full bodied, complex, and a long lingering smooth finish. 97/98
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1/1/2024 - Larre Likes this wine: 96 Points
Amazing C9P drinking very well at this stage. Layers of dark fruit, depth and complexity. Nice overall balance and a long finish. Great stuff!
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12/14/2023 - MuddyBear Likes this wine: 96 Points
Wow. PNP. In a great spot. Very balanced. Bright fruit and some structure. Tiny bit of heat on the end. Don't think it needs much of a decant at this point.
Addendum: coravin broke halfway through this bottle so I opened it and had a glass left for next night. Used the wine-saver pump. Wine had deteriorated quite a bit after 23 hours. Structure broke down completely. I didn’t change my score because this wine was fantastic on PNP, but I definitely wouldn’t decant and I’m planning on drinking the rest of these up soon. I believe the window is closing.
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7/17/2023 - Luckey Likes this wine: 99 Points
Our first time to try this wine, and our expectations were high (100 by Parker); somehow, it exceeded the expectations. The nose was full of red and black fruit perfume, jammy yet with precision. Soft in the mouth with any tannins fully resolved. Fruit flavors continued to dominate, but I don't think further aging will be beneficial. This was singing, and amazing, paired beautifully with a 2019 Cantina Terlano Terlaner I Primo. We switched back and forth all night between this red and white wine, and debated which was better. These are strong contenders for any occasion that demands a red and white wine for guests worth the cost!
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2/1/2023 - d'Artagnan wrote: 93 Points
Ouvert la veille, bouchon remis dessus.
Nez sauce au BBQ. La texture est tendre et suave, le vin montre une bonne profondeur et longueur, une rondeur épicée. C'est mûr et concentré mai tout de même harmonieux. 93 pts
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12/29/2022 - TWSA Likes this wine: 92 Points
Nose: blackcurrant jam, pepper, tar, hoisin, honey, rose buds
Notes: Opened for 3 hours before drinking. I have tasted many different vintages and different cuvees of this wine in the past year or two and what I noticed is very dominant hoisin sauce and soy sauce in the beginning. I would imagine a lot of people do not have the patience to wait through that stage to get to the incredible aromas afterwards. Slowly a heavy but fresh honey aroma starts to form and a nice rose bud aroma comes with it, this happens when the rather savory nose of hoisin sauce and soy goes away. The palate then becomes rather sweet and delightful with a very nice blackcurrant aftertaste. This wine is relatively full bodied still and I would anticipate another 5-6 years to cellaring to get the optimal level. Supposedly one of the greatest vintage of this Domaine I am really seeing plenty of potential in this wine and reaffirms my belief that this will be an up and coming maker in a complicated region like Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Rating: 92+
Drink: 2028+
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6/29/2022 - dcwino wrote: 92 Points
Mostly CDP dinner (The Capital Grille at Tysons corner, VA): Medium expressive nose displaying very ripe slightly dry black fruit, blackberry liqueur, fruitcake, licorice, brown sugar, grilled meat, tree bark and earth. There is a bit of heat at the end. Excellent concentration, packed black fruit, rich, bright acidity, earthy mineral, and a long ripe black fruit driven finish with licorice and brown sugar at the end. It is a bit hot and monolithic, IMO. I am not sure if this will improve. YMMV.
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4/23/2022 - danckie Does not like this wine:
Second try in a month from different owners. I have to say I don’t see the current ratings on CT let alone the 100 point rating. First bottle very raisiny. Maybe slightly off. But this is not much better. Heat is quite annoying and even slightly upsetting the stomach. Fruit Is a little better then the first bottle but Clos des Papes 2007 was way better in my opinion. I guess this proves the 2007 vintage is not build for the long haul. Hopefully some air will improve this impression but so far not impressed. Maybe it’s me but I have to say that the others were also not positive about this wine. And I do usually like chateauneuf so I dunno know. Last time buying Clos st. Jean for me I think. I prefer Beaucastel or Barroche Pure.
Hope I was just unlucky with 2 subpar bottles and you guys have all the good ones :-)
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7/3/2021 - Quiet Lion Likes this wine: 95 Points
Decanted over cocktails. Beautifully balanced CdP with ripe red fruit and mature tannins.
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6/23/2021 - Cailles wrote: 95 Points
This is my best 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape to date. I don’t like the boldness of that vintage and hence my expectations were low. Last year, the sister bottling (Deus Ex-Machina 2007) got a mere 90 pts as it had just too much of everything. This bottle, however, surprised by its relative (!) finesse and purity. As most of these 2007s, the wine is pretty layered but contrary to most, the ripeness, extraction levels are in check and the alcohol is not detectable. It is quite balanced and harmonious, with a superb structural frame and good to drink today with a long decant. 94/95 points.
TN: Not the most expressive nose with ripe dark red berries, some kirsch and garrigue. More open and singing on the palate with ripe but pure red berries, lots of garrigue, cedar and tobacco, baking spices and hints of chocolate. The highlight is the structure and texture with very fine tannins, a beautiful roundness, the right amount of creaminess balanced by a good, well integrated acidity. No excess weight and concentration but a very good balanced and a beautifully elegant and long finish.
Decanting: Decanted for 4 hours and it needed it (at first much riper, raisiny and less open), got even better the longer it sit in the glass. Don’t be afraid to go for 6 hours.
Glass: Zalto Bordeaux
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5/15/2021 - jim_crane wrote:
Mild funk, silky mouthfeel. This is the best in the palate of the three: la Combe des Fous, cuvée de mon aieul, and clos des papes. Restrained, nope. Lots of brine emerging. Pushing my limit. This one is clean, direct, focused. Compared to the others, this one is the entire picture even if it’s not my style.
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4/18/2021 - cadamson Likes this wine:
Was good after settling down for a few hours in the decanter. Big and rich, but fairly constrained. Delicious fruit. Could use a bit more complexity.
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4/17/2021 - sirpat00 Likes this wine: 98 Points
4h decant. Candid, ripe fruit mostly dark but later more red cherry. Olives, sweet spices of gingerbread and herbal complexity. High-octane palate. Full-bodied and muscular yet manages to come across lightly structured, helped by a juicy aroma profile. Lots of acidity and mouth-coating tannin, but all in great balance hence feels round and settled. After a while in the glass the texture becomes incredibly velvety, mirroring a constant evolution in the glass, getting better and better and developing smoky and tobacco angles, precise cedar box and a ton of chocolate. Simply fabulous to drink.
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11/1/2020 - Miceri Likes this wine: 96 Points
Medium dark red, browny hue; dark fruit, tobacco, licorice; very smooth with creamy light caramel, slightly dry tannins at the end; really long pleasant aftertaste; really good, smooth, drinkable with a layer of creamy texture
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8/15/2020 - Brent25 Likes this wine: 92 Points
Clear medium garnet; clean medium plus nose of balsamic, dried figs, olive brine and leather; dry; high acidity; medium plus tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; pronounced flavour intensity; palate is jammy with addition of cocoa; long finish; exceptional wine - did not pick it out as a chateauneuf in a blind tasting - so intense and powerful; intensity faded after about an hour
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1/11/2020 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
“Best Bottle” tasting in Fitzgerald, Rotterdam. (By JvT @ Fitzgerald): Beautifully ripe red and dark berries as well as garrigue in the bouquet. On the palate juicy dark berries, chocolate, a firm dose of sweetness and beautiful acidity.
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12/10/2019 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 99 Points
Has certainly improved since 2018 tasting. Tasted along side the 2006 Alban Lorraine, it was impossible to pick a WOTN. Both incredible, the 2007 La Combe des Fous had tons of rich concentrated fruit. Black cherries, black currants, blueberries, figs, chocolate, licorice, and floral in the nose. Black raspberries, black currants, plums, and licorice in the flavor. A well balanced wine, full bodied, complex, and a long lingering smooth finish.
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9/28/2019 - Brent25 Likes this wine: 94 Points
Clear medium garnet; clean medium nose of dried plums, leather, cocoa, black cherries, rosemary, bacon, cinnamon, vanilla and toast; dry; medium plus acidity; medium plus tannins; high alcohol; medium plus body; medium plus flavor intensity; pfn with addition of cassis and black licorice; long finish; outstanding quality; drink now or in another 5 years; started out a little hot - but became beautifully balanced and intense after decanting
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2/19/2019 - Burgundy Al wrote: 91 Points
High End Châteauneuf-du-Pape Dinner, Part 2 (Wear House): Single blind in 2007 flight.. Black cherry and plum with good concentration and balance. Bit of earth. Good now, but I don't see any upside.
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10/19/2018 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 95 Points
Simply lovely wine with good depth and soft tannins.
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9/19/2018 - KPB wrote: 86 Points
Last bottle from a six-bottle purchase (at the Chicago Wine Company) The wine is very deep purple but I see an amber tint on the rim. Nose has a maderized aroma, like shellac, but the primary fruit does come through as a muted crème-de-cassis with notes of vanilla and carrot-cake. Palate is a bit muddled: the fruit is sweet but unfocused and once again you pick up that sherry-like note. The finish is somewhat short. Given that this is a fairly young bottle, I'll rate it as 86 and in steep decline. It was in a cool cellar since purchase, and was shipped in cool weather. No reason to suspect anything about storage here, and the source was very trustworthy. Just a wine that was best on release (I rated it 95, and have consumed all six as of now) and has slowly declined ever since.
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5/29/2018 - bingram wrote:
This wine is perfect....for me! Smoothe as silk, but full of flavor. Best in quite a while and I do love cdp
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5/26/2018 - buckeye76 Likes this wine: 96 Points
Decanted 3-4 hours, but this wine definitely needs some time. Blueberries, black raspberries, currants, figs, with some floral, earthiness, and licorice. Full bodied wine with nice complexity, and a long finish.
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12/25/2017 - andrewdodd86 Likes this wine: 98 Points
Meaty and funky nose. Bacon fat. Oregano? More sweet fruit, Blackberry. Dark raspberry, plum, fig , dried fruit. Tasted blind against the ‘07 Deus Ex Machina.
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12/25/2017 - rustyRudy Likes this wine: 96 Points
Black tea, cedar, smoke and grilled meat on the nose. Complex wine with lavender, orange peel, cherries, subtle pepper and clove. Moderate tannins especially on the finish but it ended with a very nice dark fruit and blackberries. This had a little more depth and complexity tonight than the Deus Ex Machina. Both were excellent.
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10/25/2017 - Munch Likes this wine: 96 Points
Chateauneuf-Du Pape, The 2007 Vintage, A 10 Year Retrospective: Wine 11 of 18 in a 2007 CdP retrospective. Surrounded by a lot of other 2007s- Not a lot of notes but a very nice wine with good nose and flavors more on the red fruit end of the spectrum with ripe almost candied flavors of red cherries and cassis and good finish.
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3/17/2017 - canan wrote: 95 Points
Misc Tasting - Terkel Style (Birkerød): Lots of cherry fruit but also lots of steel and iron with a touch of cabbage.
It is still a fresh wine but it does seem to have aged faster than I would have expected. The alcohol is dominating a little bit but overall a great wine.
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1/18/2017 - d'Artagnan wrote: 92 Points
Nez de kirsch, d'épices. La bouche est pleine et ronde, avec de l'alcool certes (16.2!), mais la matière a la profondeur pour assurer un certain équilibre. Encore jeune mais plus de muscle que d'esprit à ce stade. La puissance est bien contenue, mais le vin manque de complexité pour s'approcher des notes ronflantes reçues. 92 (+) pts en l'état. Je crois qu'il faut l'attendre trois à cinq ans encore.
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5/14/2016 - Xavier Auerbach wrote: 93 Points
A private dinner (Restaurant MOS, Amsterdam, NL): A blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Vaccarèse and 10% Cinsault. Initially quite stalky on the nose, rich and powerful, sweet and tannic, hot, hint of marc, really big Grenache weight and volume (16.5% ABV), undergrowth, tannic, uneasy, velvety, long. Impressive but disjointed. Maybe with time? Score based on potential.
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1/17/2016 - cubswinws Likes this wine: 96 Points
Super great wine. Very elegant and wonderful mushroom nose. Soft meandering finish that goes on and on. Just lovely.
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12/12/2015 - joshabramson Likes this wine: 94 Points
I think my expectations were too high for this one after reading Robert Parkers 100 point review. Sometimes with these "perfect" wines, I feel like while they have no flaws they also have very little "wow factor". This wine is great, no question about it, very elegant. I guess I just wanted a bit more fruit, personally... but I can see why a lot of people would really love this. Not worth $300 for my palate though...
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11/27/2015 - Jeff Leve wrote: 98 Points
Full bodied, deep, rich and intense, with serious concentration of flavor, the wine coats your palate with beautiful ripe, sweet, pure fruits and silky, opulent textures. The finish lingers for close to 50 seconds. The wine could be even better than this note, but being opened during Thanksgiving, I did not have time to focus on it.
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12/12/2014 - Zweder wrote: 96 Points
Occasional dinner group: Riesling GG and 100 RP point wines: Bouquet with ripe fruits and beautiful garrigue. Same on the palate, beautiful acidity and mild tannin. Unlike many 2007 C9duP wines this wine is very elegant and also full bodied. Beautiful and harmonious with still a good future. Beautiful wine! 96+
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8/1/2014 - Rezy13 Likes this wine:
Lunch with Chris and Joey; Non-Blind (Bin 75): From magnum. Was hoping to not like this, but unfortunately it was really good. Surprised how soft and not over extracted the wine was. Also aging on a really good arc unlike many '07s I've had recently. Though delicious it didn't stand out as a favorite in the lineup.
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6/12/2014 - jclary wrote: 98 Points
Wow...rich! In a good way. And when was the last time that a CdP was described as soft in the mouth? This wine was amazing. Soft, velvety, rich, but very balanced. Lots to bright fruit, berries, garrigue. Really drinking well right now. I'm lucky to have a lot of this and I'm going to be drinking them regularly.
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4/20/2013 - cr84 Likes this wine: 97 Points
I would be a liar if I said I hadn’t high expectations for this wine. Its showing was awesome, although none of us wasn’t disappointed. Good thing with this kind of wine: a disappointment comes with some tacit notes of fireplace, chunks of cinnamon with dried oranges; a mouth shyly feminine, delivering a more concentrated dose of its stuff, with a truly and brilliantly long final developing on some notes of cocoa. This was a funky, brilliant, experience, but I felt the wine was undergoing a taciturn period. 97 points
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11/11/2012 - Niagara wrote: 97 Points
Truly amazing.
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8/2/2012 - Jeff Leve wrote: 99 Points
2007 Clos St. Jean La Combe des Fous is made from a blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Vaccarese and 10% Cinsault. It's obvious that the wine is off the charts from the first whiff. Super ripe aromas of black raspberry, black cherry liqueur, licorice, blueberries, herbs, pepper, earth and spice might start the show. But the massive layers of perfectly ripe berries with the texture of polished motor oil take over every nook and cranny of your mouth, teeth, gums and palate. Yet, with all its density and structure, everything is in perfect balance and harmony. Lush, opulent and expansive, this is a stunning wine with serious intensity of flavor and depth. Still young and primary, this should hit triple digits in a few years, and if someone wanted to give it 100 Pts today, why not. Tasted blind, this Chateauneuf du Pape showed itself to be a remarkable wine. I wish I owned some.
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2/11/2012 - Stefanos T. wrote: 97 Points
Exuberant nose of cherry and blackcurrant fruit coupled with herbs like thyme and lavender, camphora, ink and toast. Smooth texture and full body, very concentrated but fluid with lingering finish. This is a dark fruited CdP of great quality, slightly disjointed now as I feel it needs a few years to round up a bit. A potentially perfect wine.
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2/11/2012 - Yiannis wrote: 98 Points
What a night! Having this masterpiece right after Sine Qua Non Into The Dark, makes it a" once in a lifetime" wine-drinking experience. Dark purple. Youthful, yet extremely refined and complex nose, with violets, kirsch, garrigue, dark berries amd sweet spice. Full-bodied, rich, with soft tannins and balancing acidity. Endless aftertaste. Quite primary, will improve over the next decade. A great CdP.
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2/11/2012 - Dokken wrote: 96 Points
Tasted after the Sine Qua Non. A rich & opulent style with less oak treatment. Superb structure with elegant acidity and slightly hot alcohol. Dense with fruit purity, character and long finish. An impressive Chateauneuf that is still young, needing some time for all elements to come together. Stll an outstanding wine focused and well structured.
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7/13/2011 - BobJohnson1 wrote:
Medium purple. Floral nose, fruits, earth and a very strong wack of alcohol. On the palette, tight, extracted, some sweet fruit but again the alcohol overwhelms everything else. Not drinkable.
Day two, the same. Day three, starting to oxidize, poured down the drain.
After reading other reviews it seems like this may have been a bad bottle? Cork was good, bought from a good suppler on release and stored in cold cellar. Also tasted the VV bought at same time, and while not a style I personally like, the wine was fine.
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12/5/2010 - cct wrote: 98 Points
Very perfumed beautiful nose, with everything from meats, pepper, blackberry, licorice, pomegranate, and some baking spice maybe cinnamon or allspice. This has a lot going on. Fantastic texture, great structure, fruit, and minerality. This is the only vintage where I have preferred this bottling to the Deus. brilliant. 98 pts
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10/20/2010 - ews3 wrote: 96 Points
Zachys Robin Hood 2010 Wine Tasting (La venue, NYC): really nice. sweet red fruit, candied cherry, but with some brooding spice notes below. chocolaty powdered tannins appear on the late midpalate and lead into a long, dark finish. really interesting evolution in the mouth. a little bit of heat appears late in the finish.
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10/20/2010 - pbaek wrote:
Immediate appeal here. Extracted, sweet fruit meets the nose. Polished, extracted cherry fruit on the palate, pepper and spices. Again I notice the sweetnes and a chocolately mark. Not terribly complex, this is an easy drinker today. I can see why some people fall for this wine. No objections per se, but this is not for me. Zachys 2010 Wine Tasting to Benefit Robin Hood. After note: I just checked the price for this wine on winesearcher. $375 and up. Eh. I hope there's a comma missing?, it really should be a $37,50 wine. Max. I can easily see this one follow the Aussie wines down the gutter.
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4/16/2010 - KPB wrote: 95 Points
Very primary right now. The wine is purple/black with a thick appearance. Nose is somewhat spicy and runs to black plum fruit, cannuba wax, brioche, and curiously, strawberries that you get at the end rather than up front. Powerful and ripe, rich on the palate and rather mouth coating, but also painfully young right now. Very much needs cellar time, but has the potential to evolve nicely. Call it a 95-97pt bottle, but I'll rate it 95 to be on the safe side today. Has much in common with the 2007 Clos des Papes (and less in common with Pegau, Chave, Marcoux).
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4/13/2010 - Miceri wrote: 94 Points
No notes taken
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1/9/2010 - Dr. Rislin wrote: 95 Points
Opened. Dark berries, buttermilk. Almost jammy. Decanted. Drank over several hours, at first accompanying roast chicken with herbes des provence. Quickly it developed licorice, garrique, tar-like flavours. A spectacular wine, although the 2005 was more crisp and linear. It almost tastes like prime australian syrah from a cool year... I respect Parker, but as to what i've tasted so far, i find 2005 superior to 2007 and i think most of the 2005's will also age better, but that's just me.
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12/23/2009 - KenK wrote: 96 Points
Nice sweet boisenberry nose with light earthy underbrush. Quite fresh.
Palate was red fruit forward in soft yet spicy style. Obviously quite young, yet quite drinkable now. Long rich red furit finish. Impressive stuff especially the nice zippy quality and sweet tannins. Opened for John V Bday. Not mind blowing, but quaite tasty.
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12/17/2009 - gorm wrote: 99 Points
Uncorked DK does 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape (Aarø & Co): Dark red. Utterly stunning and delicious nose with loads of smoke, truffles, incense and espresso. The mouth is filled with incredibly delicate and intense fruit with loads of herbs and depth. Great length. This is not just very sexy, but also brooding, big, sweet and very complex. Will most certainly be a 100p wine sometime in the future. (U99,3 - I wonder if this is our highest group average ever?)
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8/30/2009 - Philippe_C wrote: 99 Points
Powerfull spicy nose, meaty, black fruit, licorice... incredibly exploding in the month with black fruit, spicy, juicy meat... whaouwwwww... what a great wine... I first put a perfect score , but downgraded it to 99/100 after tasting the Janasse VV and the Deus Ex Machina
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2/8/2009 - Philippe_C wrote: 97 Points
Nose of chocolate and coffee, cherries jam... in the mounth, essence of cherries, very ripe and silky tannins
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