On the nose this is shockingly fresh, violet florals and purple and blue fruits. Cool bouldery minerality. Very pretty and elegant. Palate is thick and heavy but is structurally resolved and easy sipping. Mild rusticity, pleasantly, but stylistically clean and cool. Good winter wine, I think this is heavy Mourvèdre, and it’s thick. Tobacco, dark chocolate. Including my rest of these in a sale of misfits from the cellar, so a bit of a farewell note. 91-92+, especially if you like CDP.
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To no fault of the producer, only the individual who donated this wine to a charity auction likely knowing so, the wine was flawed. Most likely improper storage was the culprit. Nevertheless, I made lemonade out of (expensive) lemons and have saved the wine for culinary purposes. So far it has been used to make a fantastic marsala, as well as in a bolognese. I have it in mason jars to not a waste a drop and continue to make delicious entrées with what I am sure was once a delicious wine. With two more full bottles, that's a lot of delicious meals.
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Medium red color just tending to brown. Highly nuanced and complex bouquet. Still an excellent Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but clearly on the decline from the last bottle I tasted.
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Harry Karis visit part I: Top '89 & '90 Châteauneuf-du-Papes Blindtasted (Tom's House, Palo Alto, California): Group's #7 (my #2) – 114 pts.; 0, 2, 2, 2 - bricking medium dark red violet color; charcoal, ripe and dried berry, dried cherry, spicy plum, licorice, sweet cigar box nose; tasty, rich, complex, youthful, dried berry, anise, sweet smoke, ripe black fruit, graphite palate, showing a fair amount of new oak, but still a hedonistic pleasure; long finish 96+ points (much, much better than a bretty and presumably poorly stored bottle I had a year and a half back)
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Definitive Rhone (Fabi and Rosi European Kitchen Austin, Texas): Always a great value, this wine shows the power of the vintage for CDP. It had a spicy, sweet, floral nose and wrapped around the tongue, with lots of flavors: caramel, cheap (Hershey) chocolate,raisin, lavender, clove, nutmeg, cranberry, and raspberry. Some found it reductive and closed, and sour, but most enjoyed the size and the palate on the wine....."not mellow" declared a lawyer.
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12/17/2018 - The Vines That Bind wrote: 91 Points
On the nose this is shockingly fresh, violet florals and purple and blue fruits. Cool bouldery minerality. Very pretty and elegant. Palate is thick and heavy but is structurally resolved and easy sipping. Mild rusticity, pleasantly, but stylistically clean and cool. Good winter wine, I think this is heavy Mourvèdre, and it’s thick. Tobacco, dark chocolate. Including my rest of these in a sale of misfits from the cellar, so a bit of a farewell note. 91-92+, especially if you like CDP.
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2/16/2014 - adamlipp wrote: flawed
To no fault of the producer, only the individual who donated this wine to a charity auction likely knowing so, the wine was flawed. Most likely improper storage was the culprit. Nevertheless, I made lemonade out of (expensive) lemons and have saved the wine for culinary purposes. So far it has been used to make a fantastic marsala, as well as in a bolognese. I have it in mason jars to not a waste a drop and continue to make delicious entrées with what I am sure was once a delicious wine. With two more full bottles, that's a lot of delicious meals.
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4/23/2011 - TexasBob wrote: 93 Points
Medium red color just tending to brown. Highly nuanced and complex bouquet. Still an excellent Chateauneuf-du-Pape, but clearly on the decline from the last bottle I tasted.
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2/1/2011 - rjonwine@gmail.com wrote: 96 Points
Harry Karis visit part I: Top '89 & '90 Châteauneuf-du-Papes Blindtasted (Tom's House, Palo Alto, California): Group's #7 (my #2) – 114 pts.; 0, 2, 2, 2 - bricking medium dark red violet color; charcoal, ripe and dried berry, dried cherry, spicy plum, licorice, sweet cigar box nose; tasty, rich, complex, youthful, dried berry, anise, sweet smoke, ripe black fruit, graphite palate, showing a fair amount of new oak, but still a hedonistic pleasure; long finish 96+ points (much, much better than a bretty and presumably poorly stored bottle I had a year and a half back)
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3/25/2010 - austinwinesalon wrote:
Definitive Rhone (Fabi and Rosi European Kitchen Austin, Texas): Always a great value, this wine shows the power of the vintage for CDP. It had a spicy, sweet, floral nose and wrapped around the tongue, with lots of flavors: caramel, cheap (Hershey) chocolate,raisin, lavender, clove, nutmeg, cranberry, and raspberry. Some found it reductive and closed, and sour, but most enjoyed the size and the palate on the wine....."not mellow" declared a lawyer.
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