At a Rhone wine theme dinner with friends, brought this, served blind, decanted for 1 hour, beautiful Cdp, most thought a Northern Rhone due to its spicy Syrah taste, great match with the 06 Rayas
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Nose: musky, gamey, black fruits, leather, pepper Notes: opened for 4 hours before drinking, this wine is far from ready but shows tremendous potential. With a rather sweet nose and an oak driven palate, I can say the wine is sun kissed and ripe but simply needs a lot of cellaring before it can be approached. It is indeed my mistake to consume this so early. Perhaps another 10-13 years before one should even think about trying. I do appreciate the complexity of the wine and one can feel that it was never the intention to drink the wine young. Drink: 2033+ Rating: 91
Mature bottle that had past its prime. Medium-full bodied with classic CDP notes but insufficient acidity that blunted the palate. The acid was burned up over the years, and the wine now tasted dull.
Mature, deep burgundy with an amber tint on the rim. A soft, gently enveloping nose centered on spicy blackberry fruit, leather, musk, caramel. Tart, with an intensity of flavor but not a hint of overripeness or heat. Leaves an impression of wildness... Really long finish.
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What a beautiful perfume with terrific aromatic volume yet still in possession of the expected elegance, wildflower, fig, anise and fur complementing a cool fruit profile that starts out black-fruited and ends up red-fruited after a few hours of air. Intensely peppery, garrigue, and mineral palate with the 14% ABV definitely showing through, but in a wine as spicy as CdP it seems to be expected and harmonious rather than jarring and dissonant the way it can when claret is that hot. Still seemingly years short of its apogee, but then again 24 hours later this takes on extremely potent chartreuse notes.
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LFC celebration dinner! Dark red, tight nose, peppery, after an hour bit more savoury, lovely mouth feel, thought a 07 but didn’t have that full bodied Celestins ripe vintage
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Medium-bodied and quite forward for Bonneau Celestins, the wine is perhaps more interesting on the nose with its blast of garrigue, kirsch and thyme-scented perfume. Soft, open and fruity, with a hint of black pepper in the cherry centric, earthy finish, this is already in its prime time drinking window. This is a nice Chateauneuf, but not a great vintage for Celestins.
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Started out with a burst of ripe red fruit, but not a whole lot more and we put it in a decanter for a couple of hours. With more air, this was spectacular - an array of spice, herbs, earth, leather, and perfumed red fruit, quite ripe and unmistakeably Chateauneuf, but with a finesse and delicate touch that puts it head and shoulders above most CdP. Just a brilliant wine. Thanks Tim.
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Super Bowl 2019 (Alpharetta, GA): Garnet core with maroon rim; shyer nose, not as unique and intense as the last, wilted flower, leather, not as Bretty, mushroom, sour cherry, raspberry, fig, touch of VA; meatier with some liqueur, CdP, much more somber with lower acid, velvety tannin and weight to the tannin, not high alcohol but large scaled, not as unique as the first 2 with less drinkability; called 2000 Hommage.
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Another CdP drinking great right now, with all indications that this has well over a decade left, perhaps even improving. Wonderfully traditional, from a pretty accessible vintage. Lots of herbs intermingled with blue fruits, garrigue and meat, wrapped around by a wonderful acidity. Great stuff.
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Acker Auction & Commanderie des Costes du Rhone (Zuma & Racines): This was great. Drinking it made me even sadder the '88 was corked. It's an herb garden mixed with a spice cabinet. Really lively and tasty. Of course too young, but glad to see that we have some of these in our cellar.
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A Rayas & Henri Bonneau Celestins dinner among friends, drank along with the Rayas 00, 03, 04, 06 and the Celestins 04, hmm, strange bottle, no game or barnyard, oaky, even after a 2 hour decant, both Celestins didn’t show well tonight, slightly better than the 04 Celestins 92?
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My first Celestins. What a wine. So dense. Flavour and texture wise. This probably has 20 more years, if not 50, under the belt. It smells as dark as it looks, with scents reminiscent of the region like black olive. Great length. Freshness for days, even with the high alcohol. PIME.
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Nose of the night until the 03 Rayas came, and the nose is similar to the 04 Celestins drunk alongside but sweeter, delicious palate full of character, the Grenache really comes through, mesmerizing elixir.... 94
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Occasional dinner group; A vertical of 15 vintages Clos des Papes and some great extra's. (@ B in SvG): Extremely beautiful and expressive bouquet with good cherries and red berries, garrigue and elegance. Impressive! On the palate a beautiful wine which shows early maturity, an enormous amount of beautiful herbs and spices, good fruits, beautiful acidity and lovely tannin which is soft, but also still has a firm bite and a lot of future. An extremely elegant wine with complexity and finesse. A feast already and probably until well into the 2020’s.
Dinner at Ripple (Ripple - Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.): Aromas of dark cherry, brambles, roses, & subtle coffee. The palate was complex and nuanced. At times, floral notes seemed to dominate the palate, while the next minute it was more about cherries and blackberries. Air helped this wine, and I think it’ll need many years to come to maturity.
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Thankfully, served cool on a hot summer night. Almost opaque ruby. Meaty scents with black licorice, all manner of herbs, creosote, and mixed black and dark red fruit. Medium weight, not overly viscous, fairly restrained, complex palate which reprises the nose. Some round, ripe tannins, but this seems just about fully mature. For this cuvée, dare I say that this is relatively civilized and well resolved. Distinctive, singular style.
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My first and hopefully not last Bonneau. Ripe fruit yet gentle and balanced with no noticeable heat. Red fruit, olive, tar, smoke, rocks, tobacco, licorice, and Herbs de Provence. a finish that wouldn't quit. Matched well with lamb. There was also a huge dose of pepper and salted meat that ran from start to finish. Probably the finest traditional tasting CdP I've ever had. Thanks RJ! An extremely clean wine which surprised me a bit after hearing stories of the dirty cellar. A very classy wine!
Color: Dark red Nose: Beautiful, so complex, we paired this Celestins with Isabel Ferrando's 2009 St Prefert Charles Giraud and boy did the Celestins outperform the St Perfert, earth, barnyard, beef blood, black berries, this has the trademark Celestins camelon nose, ever changin with every sniff, superb!
Palate: Oh this is sheer class! delicious, Bonneau is a true master! This wine is not your typical big full-bodied Celestins, a more mellow style, med bodied,complex taste of Provençal herbs, just so well balanced, approachable now but will certainly get better. We kept coming back to this wine while we struggled to finish the St Prefert.
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Deuxième expérience avec ce vin, moins convaincant que la première mais ça demeure une grande bouteille comme d'habitude. Style baroque, à la fois décadent par sa concentration, mais avec toute la finesse et la complexité aromatique voulue. On retourne dans le verre et la métamorphose s'opère d'heure en heure, le vin évolue et offre toujours quelque chose de nouveau, la signature d'un grand. Superbe.
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I really enjoyed this bottle though i did not take official TN's. It was full yet soft & balanced and structured and very clean, almost polished which is something i don't often say about Bonneau's wines. There is plenty of back bone and some lurking tannins but overall it impressed with it's approachability. A good effort for the vintage which is generally not one of my favorites.
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2011 Simple Dinner Series 12 :: A night with CDPs (Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant, The Forum Shopping Mall, Orchard Road): Alcohol :: 14.5% Popped one day in advanced and decanted for 3hrs. This vibrant medium ruby red reveal gorgeous aromas of licorice, pepper, garrigue, sweet cherry, kirsch and wrapped in a high tone floral and wildness. Very rich and intense, everything is wrapped in such as compact package. This is similar to the 2001, very powerful but with the sense of restraint and tension. The sweet dark fruits was pure along with herbs, mineral, tea leaves that covered by the massive level of very fine tannin at the moment. Despite of the massive structured and concentration, this large scale Celestine offer great depth, purity, energy as well as razor sharp precision that lead to the very long and fine finish. This is not really showing today despite the long aeration. With the materials, 10-15yrs down the road, this will surely turn into something truly astonishing. Patience is much needed. 93-95
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Retailer Walk-about: We tasted the reserve wine, too. Had darker fruit, a more funky and meatier nose and many more tannins. I actually preferred the Maria Beurrier 2003, at this point in time, for its more open taste. Very well made and obviously special. $149.99 retail (apparently an amazing price for this wine)
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4/23/2024 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
At a Rhone wine theme dinner with friends, brought this, served blind, decanted for 1 hour, beautiful Cdp, most thought a Northern Rhone due to its spicy Syrah taste, great match with the 06 Rayas
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3/31/2023 - TWSA Likes this wine: 91 Points
Nose: musky, gamey, black fruits, leather, pepper
Notes: opened for 4 hours before drinking, this wine is far from ready but shows tremendous potential. With a rather sweet nose and an oak driven palate, I can say the wine is sun kissed and ripe but simply needs a lot of cellaring before it can be approached. It is indeed my mistake to consume this so early. Perhaps another 10-13 years before one should even think about trying. I do appreciate the complexity of the wine and one can feel that it was never the intention to drink the wine young.
Drink: 2033+
Rating: 91
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12/10/2022 - Nanda wrote: 93 Points
Gorgeous aromas of blackberry and plum laced with herbs and exotic spice. Good rich fruit and a refined structural backbone. At peak.
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10/27/2022 - GuanYu Does not like this wine: 86 Points
Mature bottle that had past its prime. Medium-full bodied with classic CDP notes but insufficient acidity that blunted the palate. The acid was burned up over the years, and the wine now tasted dull.
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3/19/2022 - KPB wrote: 94 Points
Mature, deep burgundy with an amber tint on the rim. A soft, gently enveloping nose centered on spicy blackberry fruit, leather, musk, caramel. Tart, with an intensity of flavor but not a hint of overripeness or heat. Leaves an impression of wildness... Really long finish.
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1/27/2022 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
La Tablee: Bonneau retrospective (Mercerie): Again lovely fruit and this sortof fresh feeling to it. It's too young and not ready yet but enjoyable today.
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11/17/2020 - englishman's claret wrote: 94 Points
What a beautiful perfume with terrific aromatic volume yet still in possession of the expected elegance, wildflower, fig, anise and fur complementing a cool fruit profile that starts out black-fruited and ends up red-fruited after a few hours of air. Intensely peppery, garrigue, and mineral palate with the 14% ABV definitely showing through, but in a wine as spicy as CdP it seems to be expected and harmonious rather than jarring and dissonant the way it can when claret is that hot. Still seemingly years short of its apogee, but then again 24 hours later this takes on extremely potent chartreuse notes.
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6/28/2020 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
LFC celebration dinner! Dark red, tight nose, peppery, after an hour bit more savoury, lovely mouth feel, thought a 07 but didn’t have that full bodied Celestins ripe vintage
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12/22/2019 - Jeff Leve wrote: 94 Points
Medium-bodied and quite forward for Bonneau Celestins, the wine is perhaps more interesting on the nose with its blast of garrigue, kirsch and thyme-scented perfume. Soft, open and fruity, with a hint of black pepper in the cherry centric, earthy finish, this is already in its prime time drinking window. This is a nice Chateauneuf, but not a great vintage for Celestins.
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11/9/2019 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine:
Birthday dinner wine party, decanted for 2 hours, meaty, masculine Cdp, perfect balance, excellent wine
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8/3/2019 - salil wrote: 95 Points
Started out with a burst of ripe red fruit, but not a whole lot more and we put it in a decanter for a couple of hours. With more air, this was spectacular - an array of spice, herbs, earth, leather, and perfumed red fruit, quite ripe and unmistakeably Chateauneuf, but with a finesse and delicate touch that puts it head and shoulders above most CdP. Just a brilliant wine. Thanks Tim.
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2/3/2019 - Rezy13 wrote: 91 Points
Super Bowl 2019 (Alpharetta, GA): Garnet core with maroon rim; shyer nose, not as unique and intense as the last, wilted flower, leather, not as Bretty, mushroom, sour cherry, raspberry, fig, touch of VA; meatier with some liqueur, CdP, much more somber with lower acid, velvety tannin and weight to the tannin, not high alcohol but large scaled, not as unique as the first 2 with less drinkability; called 2000 Hommage.
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7/8/2018 - cadamson Likes this wine: 95 Points
Another CdP drinking great right now, with all indications that this has well over a decade left, perhaps even improving. Wonderfully traditional, from a pretty accessible vintage. Lots of herbs intermingled with blue fruits, garrigue and meat, wrapped around by a wonderful acidity. Great stuff.
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5/16/2018 - MC2 Wines Likes this wine:
Acker Auction & Commanderie des Costes du Rhone (Zuma & Racines): This was great. Drinking it made me even sadder the '88 was corked. It's an herb garden mixed with a spice cabinet. Really lively and tasty. Of course too young, but glad to see that we have some of these in our cellar.
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4/9/2018 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 92 Points
A Rayas & Henri Bonneau Celestins dinner among friends, drank along with the Rayas 00, 03, 04, 06 and the Celestins 04, hmm, strange bottle, no game or barnyard, oaky, even after a 2 hour decant, both Celestins didn’t show well tonight, slightly better than the 04 Celestins
92?
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10/31/2017 - Jonathan A A Likes this wine:
My first Celestins. What a wine. So dense. Flavour and texture wise. This probably has 20 more years, if not 50, under the belt. It smells as dark as it looks, with scents reminiscent of the region like black olive. Great length. Freshness for days, even with the high alcohol. PIME.
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2/24/2017 - Claret & CdP Gang Likes this wine: 94 Points
Nose of the night until the 03 Rayas came, and the nose is similar to the 04 Celestins drunk alongside but sweeter, delicious palate full of character, the Grenache really comes through, mesmerizing elixir....
94
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11/18/2016 - decaturwinedude wrote: 92 Points
TNs: Henri Bonneau & Friends ('98, '01, '06 Celestins, '01 Rayas, '90 Jaboulet La Chapelle (ATL): Still do young and primary. Lots of bramble spice and garrigue. You can feel the sappy weight of the heady fruit on this one. Comes across as more wild and untamed right now. Layers of rich fruit. Big wine. Good now, much room to improve in time imo.
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4/23/2016 - Zweder wrote: 95 Points
Occasional dinner group; A vertical of 15 vintages Clos des Papes and some great extra's. (@ B in SvG): Extremely beautiful and expressive bouquet with good cherries and red berries, garrigue and elegance. Impressive! On the palate a beautiful wine which shows early maturity, an enormous amount of beautiful herbs and spices, good fruits, beautiful acidity and lovely tannin which is soft, but also still has a firm bite and a lot of future. An extremely elegant wine with complexity and finesse. A feast already and probably until well into the 2020’s.
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1/8/2016 - tooch wrote: 93 Points
Dinner at Ripple (Ripple - Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C.): Aromas of dark cherry, brambles, roses, & subtle coffee. The palate was complex and nuanced. At times, floral notes seemed to dominate the palate, while the next minute it was more about cherries and blackberries. Air helped this wine, and I think it’ll need many years to come to maturity.
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9/22/2015 - Opusone99 wrote: 94 Points
Sans prise de notes. Très bon! 93-94.
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9/11/2014 - drwine2001 wrote:
Thankfully, served cool on a hot summer night. Almost opaque ruby. Meaty scents with black licorice, all manner of herbs, creosote, and mixed black and dark red fruit. Medium weight, not overly viscous, fairly restrained, complex palate which reprises the nose. Some round, ripe tannins, but this seems just about fully mature. For this cuvée, dare I say that this is relatively civilized and well resolved. Distinctive, singular style.
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11/18/2013 - h2ofowler55 wrote: 95 Points
Exceptional. Traditional style but with incredible style and complexity. The wine continued to evolve over time. Wow.
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11/10/2013 - Vinsant wrote:
My first and hopefully not last Bonneau. Ripe fruit yet gentle and balanced with no noticeable heat. Red fruit, olive, tar, smoke, rocks, tobacco, licorice, and Herbs de Provence. a finish that wouldn't quit. Matched well with lamb. There was also a huge dose of pepper and salted meat that ran from start to finish. Probably the finest traditional tasting CdP I've ever had. Thanks RJ! An extremely clean wine which surprised me a bit after hearing stories of the dirty cellar. A very classy wine!
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9/1/2013 - Claret & CdP Gang wrote: 95 Points
2006 Bonneau Celestins
Color: Dark red
Nose: Beautiful, so complex, we paired this Celestins with Isabel Ferrando's 2009 St Prefert Charles Giraud and boy did the Celestins outperform the St Perfert, earth, barnyard, beef blood, black berries, this has the trademark Celestins camelon nose, ever changin with every sniff, superb!
Palate: Oh this is sheer class! delicious, Bonneau is a true master! This wine is not your typical big full-bodied Celestins, a more mellow style, med bodied,complex taste of Provençal herbs, just so well balanced, approachable now but will certainly get better. We kept coming back to this wine while we struggled to finish the St Prefert.
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5/20/2013 - ludwigbpm wrote: 96 Points
Deuxième expérience avec ce vin, moins convaincant que la première mais ça demeure une grande bouteille comme d'habitude. Style baroque, à la fois décadent par sa concentration, mais avec toute la finesse et la complexité aromatique voulue. On retourne dans le verre et la métamorphose s'opère d'heure en heure, le vin évolue et offre toujours quelque chose de nouveau, la signature d'un grand. Superbe.
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11/2/2012 - bon vivant wrote:
I really enjoyed this bottle though i did not take official TN's. It was full yet soft & balanced and structured and very clean, almost polished which is something i don't often say about Bonneau's wines. There is plenty of back bone and some lurking tannins but overall it impressed with it's approachability. A good effort for the vintage which is generally not one of my favorites.
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12/9/2011 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 93 Points
2011 Simple Dinner Series 12 :: A night with CDPs (Jade Palace Seafood Restaurant, The Forum Shopping Mall, Orchard Road): Alcohol :: 14.5%
Popped one day in advanced and decanted for 3hrs. This vibrant medium ruby red reveal gorgeous aromas of licorice, pepper, garrigue, sweet cherry, kirsch and wrapped in a high tone floral and wildness. Very rich and intense, everything is wrapped in such as compact package. This is similar to the 2001, very powerful but with the sense of restraint and tension. The sweet dark fruits was pure along with herbs, mineral, tea leaves that covered by the massive level of very fine tannin at the moment. Despite of the massive structured and concentration, this large scale Celestine offer great depth, purity, energy as well as razor sharp precision that lead to the very long and fine finish. This is not really showing today despite the long aeration. With the materials, 10-15yrs down the road, this will surely turn into something truly astonishing. Patience is much needed. 93-95
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10/10/2011 - TashNYC wrote: 93 Points
Retailer Walk-about: We tasted the reserve wine, too. Had darker fruit, a more funky and meatier nose and many more tannins.
I actually preferred the Maria Beurrier 2003, at this point in time, for its more open taste.
Very well made and obviously special. $149.99 retail (apparently an amazing price for this wine)
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