NV Xavier Vignon Châteauneuf-du-Pape la Réserve VII IX X

Community Tasting Notes (106) Avg Score: 92.1 points

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  3/17/2024 - Tony Molester wrote:

  Long single piece cork, no sign of seepage.
  Excellent fill level.
  No sieving required.
  Not decanted, Tasted over 4h.
  
  V: dark red with high opacity. This is consistent with minor grenache and cinsault in the blend.
  
  N: aromas are bramble and blackberry, a bit of graphite.
  
  P:I was hoping to find the same bliss as other TNs, but this style was a bit difficult for me to fully appreciate. The tannins were chalky, there was a touch of bitterness in the long finish. The black fruit and mineral profile was fully ripe but admirably not tasting cooked in the slightest. There was an impression of balance despite it all. The oak is nearly indecipherable.
  
  One can certainly taste this is a meticulously assembled wine, and my reservation is just personal preference. Hats off for a distinctive expression of this great appellation.
  
  This was never meant as a burgundian styled chateauneuf, and will please those looking for a bigger styled modern chateauneuf using many of the rarer permitted varietals.
  
  Drink or hold to 2029, some upside anticipated.
  15%abv

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  6/10/2023 - ssekdad Likes this wine: 95 Points

  Perfectly aged, sublime, has leaned out a little, not as much baby fat, subtle pepper. went great with an apple-smoked rib roast

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  5/31/2023 - puffinscellar Likes this wine: 94 Points

  Deep dark red with a tinge of purple. The nose is a tour de force of damson plums, blackberries, smoked pork, rhubarb, and a floral meets mineral note like lilac talc, plus a spicy note I could only describe as z’atar. On the palate it’s supple yet powerful, plums and dark cherries and sweet tobacco, plus firm yet fine-grained tannins and a chalky note which supports the rich fruit while drying the palate. The finish is tangy and seemingly endless, as the fruit dries up with young leather and chalk yet a saline quality reflecting wet sand gives gravity as it lingers.
  
  This is the third bottle from a case, tasted so far over two years. And I am convinced this one is just starting to give up its secrets. It has at least a decade left on it, perhaps much more as we will see but I suspect I will score this much higher on future bottles.

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  5/3/2023 - dsimmons Likes this wine: 93 Points

  Second of three. Concentrated flavors leaving the impression that additional development is likely. Drink or hold.

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  3/14/2023 - CRL Stc Likes this wine: 93 Points

  PnP. Drank well over 2 hours.

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