Pnp. Deep ruby-purple in colour. Nose of dark plums, dark cherry compote, with hints of garrigue and blackberries. On the palate, a somewhat peppery blackberry profile is noticed along with some dark jammy fruit, a touch of tobacco, and dark herbs. Medium bodied with a medium finish. This latest version is 2/3 2019 vintage and 1/3 previous vintages.
A little jammy when first opened, but went away with 30min decant. Very smooth, wonderful plum & cherry flavors, with a hint of spice. No noticeable tannis. Good structure & well balanced. Drink now.
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I loved this little bottle of warming Rhone goodness. Ripe and smooth with some garrigue and dusty earth. The 14.5% abv is not noticeable in the nose, but adds to the texture.
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A rustic, old school cotes du rhone-like French table wine. A bit astringent with a yeasty bitter note that knocks this a bit off balance, but at its core this is solid and with ample tannins and acidity. I don't expect any evolution out of this but it should keep well over the next 2 years. If you like your old world wines really old world, you'll enjoy this. Well priced.
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Some dried herbs, a bit of herbs de Provence, macerated and stewed red and black berries on the nose — very much a clear CdR nose. The palate definitely has plenty of intensity with the same notes as the nose, leaning a little more into the dark fruit. Medium acid and tannins, but to me this wine feels a bit like a bludgeon — flavor-wise it’s just missing a little bit of lift and grace. I respect that it’s made seriously, and I wanted to like it more, but it just felt like a full force CdR that was missing a little elegance. Perhaps this particular bottle just needed some time to develop.
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Pnp; has a deep ruby-purple in colour. Nose of sweet blackberry and blueberry jam and violets. Getting stewed plums and blackberries along with some cassis and black peppers where some espresso is noticed at the end. Medium bodied with a medium finish. Since the wine store I frequently visit just got this recently, I would like to think that this would be an amalgam of more recent vintages('15? '16? '17?).
Enjoyed immensely, had after a highly competitive tennis match, drinking at 8:30 PM. It was delicious: texture, fruit flavor, acidity, light tannins. The occasion made the tasting experience for sure. This is a solid bottle of wine, incredibly consistent performance.
Strong buy again for a wine in this price range.
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Very nice wine for this price point. Delicious fruit, nice medium level of acidity, a bit of soft tannins on the finish, a pleasure to drink for a weeknight wine.
The next night it was “gone”, out of balance.
Buy again.
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I believe this is a blend of ‘14 and ‘15. Deep ruby color, slightly purplish rim. Very primary on opening, still primary now over an hour later. Notes of blackberry syrup, plum skin, and dry Asian spice. Full bodied and grippy on the palate with very good presence and length for an NV table wine. This has upside potential.
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The NV Clos Des Papes Vin De Table “Le Petit Vin D’Avril” Rouge is a deep, rich purple in the glass with distinct aromas of wild berries, herbs and spices, bitter almond, cloves and star anise. Smooth on the palate and of fine structure. Bewitching to the finish.
In addition to his world class red wine, Vincent Avril also makes this tasty everyday wine, which however does not come from the parcels of land for his “Grand Vin”, but instead from excellent vineyards located in the immediate vicinity of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Besides the traditional grape varieties from the region (Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah) this wine also contains a small amount of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Vincent Avril bottles “Le petit vin d’Avril” (Avril’s little wine) without specifying the vintage, because it is always an assemblage from different harvests.
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Cappuccino, shrimp creole, baked plum, lava, celery seed and raw meat. Concentrated on profile and velvety tannin composure, with this being declassified Clos Des Papes NV, I am unquestionably impressed. Some domaines wish that their grand vins were of this ilk. Such a masculine and long finish of berry and stone. Drink now.
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I bought this wine from a local retailer recently. He found this last bottle in a dark corner and told me that it's pretty difficult to sell these bottles because of the missing year (non vintage). I also wonder why Mr. Avril sells them without a year.
This wine is the 'second wine' of Clos Des Papes'. My dealer told me that this bottle was in his store for quite a while consisting of Avrils wine of 2007, the grapes, that did not make it into the fantastic 2007 Clos Des Papes. Or grapes from areas, which do not have a Chateauneuf A.O.C. classification. Or grapes which are used to soften new oak barrels as he rarely uses new oak for the Clos des Papes. The bottle also consists of grapes / wine from different vintages.
I bought this wine for 11 €. Current retail price is a bit higher. When opening the bottle. Immediately, elegant fruit vanishes out into your nose. Medium to fully bodied, flowers, a bit vanilla, average acidity. The color is dark ruby, the palate is classic, but a bit rough at the beginning; it starts to settle after 30 minutes. A fantastic wine with an unbeaten qpr. The only wine I can think of, delivering the same qpr is the Janasse Terre de Bussiere 2007 (italian style) / 2009 (I am a bit disappointed by 2010 / 2011). When having this wine in a glass on the table, the nice smell wanders through the room.
The bad thing is, as it is a non vintage wine, I don't know if current bottles also deliver this qpr, especially as this bottle seems to have matured in the corner of the shop for quite some years (5 years?).
I love the fact that Avril does just produce one Clos Des Papes (no premium / no Vieilles Vignes). However, the price of a bottle is already on the levels of a Janasse Chaupin / Janasse Vieilles Vignes. So this wine can really be regarded as a second wine of Clos des Papes mixed with some grapes from other appellation. I would suggest, you buy a single bottle of this wine, test it and if you like it, you buy quite some bottles and let them rest in your cellar for 2-3 years. That's how I will do it now.
"A Chateauneuf Du Pape at the price of a Cote Du Rhone." :-) It's clearly better than most of the Cote Du Rhone's I have tasted so far.
BTW: I am surprised of the many reviews of this wine including a vintage year. I wonder where people get the year from.
Plump dark fruit, not too ripe, but the low acidity makes it seem a bit ponderous. Nice enough, but not a great QPR -- can do much better for the money.
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Dernière cuvée en date : le nez est assez complexe : on y trouve toute sorte de fruits rouges et noirs. La bouche est sérieuse, tannique, mais semble paradoxalement manquer d'un tout petit peu de fruit. Un surplus d'acidité serait sympathique.
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Some tannins and acidity, no fruit. Cooking wine; won't have many repeat buyers.
By the way, I turned up the bottle to pour the last glass and with the wine out came about a teaspoon of coarse, gritty, hard sediment....like purple sand. Ugh.
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ok...opened first bottle and agreed with many other tasting notes; dried out, dusty, kinda like an old amarone that had lost its hold on life... so i corked the bottle after only pouring a half a glass and was determined to return the entire case. three days go by and i need a red wine to cook with. i thought this wine wouldn't be bad to cook with, but to be sure i poured a splash in a glass and drank it...and WOW. the difference was profound. this wine had taken on some body, a light richness, some sweet tannins, and dark stone fruit, with black cherry notes, and it was sooooo smooth!!! I couldn't, and didn't stop sharing this story with friends until the bottle was finished. So give this one a chance. It's fairly cheap, and worth either cellaring, or decanting for a...day? 2 days? have fun with it regardless
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Table wine this is. Rise above its station it does not. Channelling Yoda this note is, hmmm? Perhaps the force could find qpr in this at $12; I could not.
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This bottle is supposedly a blend of 2004 and 2005 declassified CDP. It may be past it's prime because there is not much left. Some cherries on the nose, sour cherries and some funk on the palate. The finish is the best part, smooth with some astringency.
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This was much more alive than the last one. Smooth, flavorful, and didn't have the barnyard that the last one did. It had a very slight astringency on the finish, but overall very happy with it.
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Notes taken one hour after opening. Smokey nose with red berries and some vanilla oak. Medium body, more red fruit & smokey vanilla oak with enough tannins on the finish that suggest this is worth trying again in a year. Very good for the price.
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2007 Rhone Tasting at Local Wine Shop (Wine Sense): Good. Nose of berries, plum and barnyardy smoke. A lot of big fruit upfront: blackberries, dark cherries and ripe raspberries. Almost juice like. Hollow midpalate and not much of a finish. If I were in a bistro in France and wanted a 6 euro bottle to go with my meal, I may bite. At this price point (per bottle), no way... there are far better and less expensive CdR in 2007 that blow this away.
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As other reviewers have noted, this one is darker than expected. Big deep plum color. Damp earth on nose but not much barnyard, especially after a day open. Cherries, sweet but not sour, are pretty forward. On the mouth it's smooth with, as the nose suggests, some pretty solid fruit up front -- cherry and plum with Some oaky vanilla later. Smooth with some nice tannins to complete the picture. Very good wine for the price. Highly recommended.
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Color unexpectedly dark, and nose unexpectedly forward and fruity. On the palate, is restrained (a relief), but with a slightly sour note that seems to mask terroir. An odd little jumble of a wine. But at the price point, who can complain? Much better than the overly fruity bomb I expected from the color and first sniff.
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New Store Opening (Cork - Lovejoy Shop): Previous notes from Aug08: "Mostly 2006 fruit, with a barrel of 2005 thrown in for additional structure. Tasty, nice fruit and decent structure. Tannins are mild and let the fruit shine." This time around I felt the wine was much less structured, and got a lot of bitterness on the finish that was somewhat unpleasant.
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I like the mouth-feel -> smooth but not annoying. Some complexity but not really depth. Nice medium clean finish. This would be a perfect picnic wine; priced right at $15
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Opened two hours prior to drinking. Dark garnet hue in the glass. Nose was a little tight but the smell of rasberries, pepper and wood came through. Same flavors on the palate with a long dry finish. Towards the end, the flavor of bright red/yellow cherries started to come through very nicely. Rustic moutfeel. Good QPR. Probably pick up a few more bottles.
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BLECH!! Picked up a bottle of this non-vintage on the recommendation of the Frendh wine buyer at AG. Was impressed by the fact that this is basically a declassified CnP. Too oung, too tight, mouth full of tannins. REally could not fully appreciate it at all. Either I should decant if for SEVERAL hours, or give it some serious cellar time. Still have one bottle left.
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Dark purple, almost black. By the third day the nose is totally muted. Flavors of ripe cherries and blueberries. A bit tart and warm. This wine needs a serious decanting at the moment. Too young. By the 2nd day it was much better. It held for a third day. While the nose was gone by then, the flavors were there.
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Medium weight, solid fruit, good structure, tannins a little dring. Balanced nose but not overwhelming aromatics. On the nose, some very bright raspberries and bubblegum/cotton candy over barnyard & leather. Smooth and some length on the finish. The middle is a bit soft.
A good wine for the price. Better than a number of 2005 CdRs I've had recently. Probably better with food. May integrate slightly better with a just a bit more time
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NOSE: very light on the nose; hint of barnyard; damp earth; not much going on here
BODY: clear; garnet color of medium depth; medium bodied
TASTE: slightly too tannic and slightly too tart -- so perhaps this should have been aged a year or so; red berries; a decent CdR, but nothing special.
B: 50, 5, 9, 14, 6 = 84 points
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Plum and cinnamon spice on the nose. Sour plum, mineral, prominent acidity with solid tannin backbone. Lots of structure, but not enough hanging off it. Acidity out of balance for me.
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Tasting note from memory. Was this just a bad showing of the Le Petit? I found the wine thin and hollow in the middle, not rich but austere. Some good red fruit and a decent nose but overall lacking. Maybe I should wait awhile longer.
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Very good value - delicious, fun wine for less than $10. It was a light wine, easy to drink, and not quite robust enough for the Italian food we had... but a very fun wine in a cotes-du-rhone style.
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Lovely wine! Fresh nose of raspberries and black pepper. Flavors of raspberry, pepper, and granite coat the mouth. Great quaffer and QPR for the depth and structure.
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This is an impressive wine for the $, candidate for QPR value of the year for me. This has all the qualities of a good CDP (not quite at the level of Clos Des Papes, of course), with perhaps a bit less structure, but with good complexity and a long finish showing good acid on both the palate and finish. The wine is perhaps a little too forward, very ready to drink, perhaps a bit angular, but clearly excellent quality at this level. I really like this wine. Buy it up folks.
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This is my QPR wine of the century. I think it was something like $9 in D.C. Had it a few years ago, and even better than I remembered. Evokes the seashore, minerals, earthy, very drinkable. Sure wish I could get this in Michigan. Outstanding value.
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1/13/2023 - similia wrote: 89 Points
Hedonistic voluptous, blackberry, sous bois, with just enough acidity to give it freshness. great vdf
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8/28/2022 - AMC Eagle wrote: 91 Points
Pnp. Deep ruby-purple in colour. Nose of dark plums, dark cherry compote, with hints of garrigue and blackberries. On the palate, a somewhat peppery blackberry profile is noticed along with some dark jammy fruit, a touch of tobacco, and dark herbs. Medium bodied with a medium finish. This latest version is 2/3 2019 vintage and 1/3 previous vintages.
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3/20/2022 - nowine4u Likes this wine: 90 Points
A little jammy when first opened, but went away with 30min decant. Very smooth, wonderful plum & cherry flavors, with a hint of spice. No noticeable tannis. Good structure & well balanced. Drink now.
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12/26/2021 - tward Likes this wine: 89 Points
I loved this little bottle of warming Rhone goodness. Ripe and smooth with some garrigue and dusty earth. The 14.5% abv is not noticeable in the nose, but adds to the texture.
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10/12/2021 - Rossodio wrote: 87 Points
A rustic, old school cotes du rhone-like French table wine. A bit astringent with a yeasty bitter note that knocks this a bit off balance, but at its core this is solid and with ample tannins and acidity. I don't expect any evolution out of this but it should keep well over the next 2 years. If you like your old world wines really old world, you'll enjoy this. Well priced.
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9/18/2021 - OaktownRush wrote:
Some dried herbs, a bit of herbs de Provence, macerated and stewed red and black berries on the nose — very much a clear CdR nose. The palate definitely has plenty of intensity with the same notes as the nose, leaning a little more into the dark fruit. Medium acid and tannins, but to me this wine feels a bit like a bludgeon — flavor-wise it’s just missing a little bit of lift and grace. I respect that it’s made seriously, and I wanted to like it more, but it just felt like a full force CdR that was missing a little elegance. Perhaps this particular bottle just needed some time to develop.
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1/3/2021 - Sonoma-W Likes this wine: 93 Points
Wow -- a serious wine -- great structure and good dark fruit. CNP-like.
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4/24/2020 - Giacomo Likes this wine:
Very strong buy again
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12/20/2019 - mpsocal Likes this wine: 89 Points
2nd bottle was much better. There is a little funk at first, but that blows off relatively quickly. Rich fruit flavors with a pretty pleasing finish.
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8/4/2019 - AMC Eagle wrote: 91 Points
Pnp; has a deep ruby-purple in colour. Nose of sweet blackberry and blueberry jam and violets. Getting stewed plums and blackberries along with some cassis and black peppers where some espresso is noticed at the end. Medium bodied with a medium finish. Since the wine store I frequently visit just got this recently, I would like to think that this would be an amalgam of more recent vintages('15? '16? '17?).
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5/8/2019 - bjecjohnson Likes this wine: 93 Points
Amazing wine for the price. True to the region and terroir. Pleasantly surprised.
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4/18/2019 - Giacomo Likes this wine:
3/5
Nice wine. See other notes, continues to perform.
Buy again.
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2/4/2019 - Giacomo Likes this wine:
3.5/5
Enjoyed immensely, had after a highly competitive tennis match, drinking at 8:30 PM. It was delicious: texture, fruit flavor, acidity, light tannins. The occasion made the tasting experience for sure. This is a solid bottle of wine, incredibly consistent performance.
Strong buy again for a wine in this price range.
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1/9/2019 - Giacomo Likes this wine:
3.5/5
Very nice wine for this price point. Delicious fruit, nice medium level of acidity, a bit of soft tannins on the finish, a pleasure to drink for a weeknight wine.
The next night it was “gone”, out of balance.
Buy again.
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11/24/2018 - mpsocal wrote: flawed
If you like Brett you’ll love this. Unfortunately for me I don’t.
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10/20/2018 - nowine4u Likes this wine: 91 Points
Great blend. Long lingering fruit flavor. (2015-2016 fruit)
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11/3/2017 - dougsmith Likes this wine: 89 Points
I believe this is a blend of ‘14 and ‘15. Deep ruby color, slightly purplish rim. Very primary on opening, still primary now over an hour later. Notes of blackberry syrup, plum skin, and dry Asian spice. Full bodied and grippy on the palate with very good presence and length for an NV table wine. This has upside potential.
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8/7/2017 - LJD Likes this wine: 88 Points
Took a while to open up, but once it did it sang.
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12/19/2016 - christianminer Likes this wine: 88 Points
The NV Clos Des Papes Vin De Table “Le Petit Vin D’Avril” Rouge is a deep, rich purple in the glass with distinct aromas of wild berries, herbs and spices, bitter almond, cloves and star anise. Smooth on the palate and of fine structure. Bewitching to the finish.
In addition to his world class red wine, Vincent Avril also makes this tasty everyday wine, which however does not come from the parcels of land for his “Grand Vin”, but instead from excellent vineyards located in the immediate vicinity of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Besides the traditional grape varieties from the region (Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah) this wine also contains a small amount of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. Vincent Avril bottles “Le petit vin d’Avril” (Avril’s little wine) without specifying the vintage, because it is always an assemblage from different harvests.
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4/19/2016 - Rezy13 wrote:
Alain Junguenet Selections Tasting (Atlanta, GA): Darker and extracted, violets, simpler but ok.
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5/9/2015 - Matt Scott Likes this wine: 91 Points
Cappuccino, shrimp creole, baked plum, lava, celery seed and raw meat. Concentrated on profile and velvety tannin composure, with this being declassified Clos Des Papes NV, I am unquestionably impressed. Some domaines wish that their grand vins were of this ilk. Such a masculine and long finish of berry and stone. Drink now.
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8/4/2014 - _Xenon Likes this wine: 90 Points
Fantastic wine!
I bought this wine from a local retailer recently. He found this last bottle in a dark corner and told me that it's pretty difficult to sell these bottles because of the missing year (non vintage). I also wonder why Mr. Avril sells them without a year.
This wine is the 'second wine' of Clos Des Papes'. My dealer told me that this bottle was in his store for quite a while consisting of Avrils wine of 2007, the grapes, that did not make it into the fantastic 2007 Clos Des Papes. Or grapes from areas, which do not have a Chateauneuf A.O.C. classification. Or grapes which are used to soften new oak barrels as he rarely uses new oak for the Clos des Papes. The bottle also consists of grapes / wine from different vintages.
I bought this wine for 11 €. Current retail price is a bit higher.
When opening the bottle. Immediately, elegant fruit vanishes out into your nose. Medium to fully bodied, flowers, a bit vanilla, average acidity. The color is dark ruby, the palate is classic, but a bit rough at the beginning; it starts to settle after 30 minutes. A fantastic wine with an unbeaten qpr. The only wine I can think of, delivering the same qpr is the Janasse Terre de Bussiere 2007 (italian style) / 2009 (I am a bit disappointed by 2010 / 2011).
When having this wine in a glass on the table, the nice smell wanders through the room.
The bad thing is, as it is a non vintage wine, I don't know if current bottles also deliver this qpr, especially as this bottle seems to have matured in the corner of the shop for quite some years (5 years?).
I love the fact that Avril does just produce one Clos Des Papes (no premium / no Vieilles Vignes). However, the price of a bottle is already on the levels of a Janasse Chaupin / Janasse Vieilles Vignes. So this wine can really be regarded as a second wine of Clos des Papes mixed with some grapes from other appellation.
I would suggest, you buy a single bottle of this wine, test it and if you like it, you buy quite some bottles and let them rest in your cellar for 2-3 years. That's how I will do it now.
"A Chateauneuf Du Pape at the price of a Cote Du Rhone." :-) It's clearly better than most of the Cote Du Rhone's I have tasted so far.
BTW: I am surprised of the many reviews of this wine including a vintage year. I wonder where people get the year from.
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4/24/2014 - xwine wrote:
Plump dark fruit, not too ripe, but the low acidity makes it seem a bit ponderous. Nice enough, but not a great QPR -- can do much better for the money.
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7/17/2013 - sebastienjm wrote: 88 Points
Dernière cuvée en date : le nez est assez complexe : on y trouve toute sorte de fruits rouges et noirs. La bouche est sérieuse, tannique, mais semble paradoxalement manquer d'un tout petit peu de fruit. Un surplus d'acidité serait sympathique.
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3/29/2013 - Swaggering Beaunie Does not like this wine: 70 Points
Some tannins and acidity, no fruit. Cooking wine; won't have many repeat buyers.
By the way, I turned up the bottle to pour the last glass and with the wine out came about a teaspoon of coarse, gritty, hard sediment....like purple sand. Ugh.
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2/10/2013 - europat55 wrote: 85 Points
2004 Chateauneufs du Pape (Rich and Peggy's House): Good nose. A little bit hot. Fairly light palate. Average red Rhone wine. Tasted blind.
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12/9/2012 - Blato wrote: 70 Points
Vin du table, insipid
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10/29/2012 - christopher wish wrote: 88 Points
ok...opened first bottle and agreed with many other tasting notes; dried out, dusty, kinda like an old amarone that had lost its hold on life...
so i corked the bottle after only pouring a half a glass and was determined to return the entire case.
three days go by and i need a red wine to cook with. i thought this wine wouldn't be bad to cook with,
but to be sure i poured a splash in a glass and drank it...and WOW. the difference was profound. this wine had taken on some body,
a light richness, some sweet tannins, and dark stone fruit, with black cherry notes, and it was sooooo smooth!!!
I couldn't, and didn't stop sharing this story with friends until the bottle was finished. So give this one a chance. It's fairly cheap,
and worth either cellaring, or decanting for a...day? 2 days? have fun with it regardless
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8/28/2012 - Squirreljam wrote:
Table wine this is. Rise above its station it does not. Channelling Yoda this note is, hmmm? Perhaps the force could find qpr in this at $12; I could not.
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8/4/2012 - Tequilahal wrote: 87 Points
Wine was well past prime drinkability but retained a light and fruity taste.Would drink another Paul Avril wine again.
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4/25/2012 - elledeca wrote:
not bad but not memorable - redu fruit, a bit of herbs and good structure
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2/25/2012 - sycophant9 wrote: 79 Points
This wine is about as marginal as it gets.
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2/13/2012 - bobpsi wrote: 86 Points
2/3 2008 1/3 2007 Moderate nose of funk, red fruits and soy. Medium body of red cherry, smoke, earth and pepper. Medium tart finish.
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3/25/2011 - enorrbin wrote: 86 Points
This bottle is supposedly a blend of 2004 and 2005 declassified CDP. It may be past it's prime because there is not much left. Some cherries on the nose, sour cherries and some funk on the palate. The finish is the best part, smooth with some astringency.
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5/17/2010 - gjv115 wrote: 88 Points
This was much more alive than the last one. Smooth, flavorful, and didn't have the barnyard that the last one did. It had a very slight astringency on the finish, but overall very happy with it.
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3/17/2010 - brythephotoguy wrote: 87 Points
Notes taken one hour after opening. Smokey nose with red berries and some vanilla oak. Medium body, more red fruit & smokey vanilla oak with enough tannins on the finish that suggest this is worth trying again in a year. Very good for the price.
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3/13/2010 - gjv115 Likes this wine: 86 Points
Definitely an old world wine. Tar, tobacco, barnyard. Smooth and fairly balanced. Enjoyable. Everyone liked it. Not a lot of life left. Drink up.
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10/1/2009 - jnanz wrote:
2007 Rhone Tasting at Local Wine Shop (Wine Sense): Good. Nose of berries, plum and barnyardy smoke. A lot of big fruit upfront: blackberries, dark cherries and ripe raspberries. Almost juice like. Hollow midpalate and not much of a finish. If I were in a bistro in France and wanted a 6 euro bottle to go with my meal, I may bite. At this price point (per bottle), no way... there are far better and less expensive CdR in 2007 that blow this away.
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4/13/2009 - SimonK wrote: 88 Points
Very nice wine for the price.
Good red berry nose
Light but pleaseant palate
Great QPR
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3/28/2009 - Internate wrote: 87 Points
As other reviewers have noted, this one is darker than expected. Big deep plum color. Damp earth on nose but not much barnyard, especially after a day open. Cherries, sweet but not sour, are pretty forward.
On the mouth it's smooth with, as the nose suggests, some pretty solid fruit up front -- cherry and plum with Some oaky vanilla later. Smooth with some nice tannins to complete the picture.
Very good wine for the price. Highly recommended.
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3/21/2009 - cummingstom1 wrote: 89 Points
nicely dry; dark berry fruit with slight oak
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1/26/2009 - herberto wrote: 86 Points
Color unexpectedly dark, and nose unexpectedly forward and fruity. On the palate, is restrained (a relief), but with a slightly sour note that seems to mask terroir. An odd little jumble of a wine. But at the price point, who can complain? Much better than the overly fruity bomb I expected from the color and first sniff.
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1/24/2009 - hutch wrote:
CDP tasting at Boston Wine Expo: Very rhonish, not that that's very surprising. Some licorice spice. I'd be happy for under $15.
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11/13/2008 - RPerro wrote: 84 Points
New Store Opening (Cork - Lovejoy Shop): Previous notes from Aug08: "Mostly 2006 fruit, with a barrel of 2005 thrown in for additional structure. Tasty, nice fruit and decent structure. Tannins are mild and let the fruit shine." This time around I felt the wine was much less structured, and got a lot of bitterness on the finish that was somewhat unpleasant.
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11/12/2008 - Dinovino wrote: 87 Points
Fabulous floral,spicy,cherry,sweaty saddle nose.Soft and juicy with nice acidity.
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9/24/2008 - herberto wrote: 87 Points
Starts a little dry and thin, but opened up a bit in the glass with some nice Southern Rhone fruit.
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9/12/2008 - philastem wrote: 87 Points
I like the mouth-feel -> smooth but not annoying. Some complexity but not really depth. Nice medium clean finish. This would be a perfect picnic wine; priced right at $15
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8/28/2008 - RPerro wrote: 86 Points
Last Thursday Tasting: Rhone Reds (Cork: A Bottle Shop, Portland OR): Mostly 2006 fruit, with a barrel of 2005 thrown in for additional structure. Tasty, nice fruit and decent structure. Tannins are mild and let the fruit shine.
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4/27/2008 - Seo wrote: 88 Points
Less heat than the second bottle. Bottle variation seems to be a problem.
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4/19/2008 - Seo wrote: 87 Points
Second bottle seemed a little hotter than the previous bottle and seems more in line with others notes.
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4/18/2008 - Seo wrote: 88 Points
Opened two hours prior to drinking. Dark garnet hue in the glass. Nose was a little tight but the smell of rasberries, pepper and wood came through. Same flavors on the palate with a long dry finish. Towards the end, the flavor of bright red/yellow cherries started to come through very nicely. Rustic moutfeel. Good QPR. Probably pick up a few more bottles.
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3/29/2008 - MoTheMan wrote: 82 Points
BLECH!! Picked up a bottle of this non-vintage on the recommendation of the Frendh wine buyer at AG. Was impressed by the fact that this is basically a declassified CnP.
Too oung, too tight, mouth full of tannins. REally could not fully appreciate it at all.
Either I should decant if for SEVERAL hours, or give it some serious cellar time. Still have one bottle left.
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3/16/2008 - djdaqm wrote: 88 Points
Dark purple, almost black. By the third day the nose is totally muted. Flavors of ripe cherries and blueberries. A bit tart and warm. This wine needs a serious decanting at the moment. Too young. By the 2nd day it was much better. It held for a third day. While the nose was gone by then, the flavors were there.
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1/26/2008 - bmr67 wrote: 87 Points
Medium weight, solid fruit, good structure, tannins a little dring. Balanced nose but not overwhelming aromatics. On the nose, some very bright raspberries and bubblegum/cotton candy over barnyard & leather. Smooth and some length on the finish. The middle is a bit soft.
A good wine for the price. Better than a number of 2005 CdRs I've had recently. Probably better with food. May integrate slightly better with a just a bit more time
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1/5/2008 - eiseis wrote: 90 Points
Oak, a little tannin when first opened, but became smooth after 15 minutes. Good food wine.
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12/29/2007 - grafstrb wrote: 84 Points
NOSE: very light on the nose; hint of barnyard; damp earth; not much going on here
BODY: clear; garnet color of medium depth; medium bodied
TASTE: slightly too tannic and slightly too tart -- so perhaps this should have been aged a year or so; red berries; a decent CdR, but nothing special.
B: 50, 5, 9, 14, 6 = 84 points
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6/3/2007 - tairanosaurus wrote: 89 Points
Plum and cinnamon spice on the nose. Sour plum, mineral, prominent acidity with solid tannin backbone. Lots of structure, but not enough hanging off it. Acidity out of balance for me.
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4/3/2007 - slippytoad wrote: 90 Points
For the price wonderful light stuff.
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3/19/2007 - soprano wrote:
heavy sediment, clos de pape makers, cheap version good for a pizza night.
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3/17/2007 - Mark wrote: 85 Points
Tasting note from memory. Was this just a bad showing of the Le Petit? I found the wine thin and hollow in the middle, not rich but austere. Some good red fruit and a decent nose but overall lacking. Maybe I should wait awhile longer.
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3/17/2007 - slippytoad wrote: 89 Points
For the money, outstanding. Great 3rd wine of the evening, quite light on its feet and fruity.
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2/23/2007 - grog wrote: 87 Points
Solid CdR-style wine. Nothing earth-shattering, but a pleasant weeknight quaffer nonetheless.
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1/8/2007 - rmaile wrote: 76 Points
Weak fruit. Watery. Not exactly balanced.
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3/14/2006 - vlodko wrote: 86 Points
At $10 a bottle, this is the best value I've found yet. Mineral notes mixed with cherry. Deep ruby color. Fun!
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10/29/2005 - DianeR wrote:
Very good value - delicious, fun wine for less than $10. It was a light wine, easy to drink, and not quite robust enough for the Italian food we had... but a very fun wine in a cotes-du-rhone style.
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5/5/2005 - burcusabrews wrote:
Lovely wine! Fresh nose of raspberries and black pepper. Flavors of raspberry, pepper, and granite coat the mouth. Great quaffer and QPR for the depth and structure.
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3/13/2005 - mdavis wrote:
This is an impressive wine for the $, candidate for QPR value of the year for me. This has all the qualities of a good CDP (not quite at the level of Clos Des Papes, of course), with perhaps a bit less structure, but with good complexity and a long finish showing good acid on both the palate and finish. The wine is perhaps a little too forward, very ready to drink, perhaps a bit angular, but clearly excellent quality at this level. I really like this wine. Buy it up folks.
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2/9/2005 - cab wrote:
This is my QPR wine of the century. I think it was something like $9 in D.C. Had it a few years ago, and even better than I remembered. Evokes the seashore, minerals, earthy, very drinkable. Sure wish I could get this in Michigan. Outstanding value.
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