Exploring Chateauneuf-du-Pape @ Peter Z.

Belgium
Tasted Saturday, August 18, 2007 by jkoenen with 840 views

Introduction

An insight in the possibilities of Chateauneuf du Pape.
The tasting was largely divided into 2 parts: the first half focussing on the 'basic' cuvées, while the second half reflected the 'Premium' cuvées.
Of course, both parts were lavishly decorated by several ringers.
All wines tasted blind, mostly in flights of 2 or 3 wines.

Flight 1 - First half (1 Note)

  • 2005 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 88 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Pale yellow. Floral and mineral, chamomille, pear and apple, a faint hint of vanilla. Fine acidity, elegant, sourish and fresh, quite Sauvignon-like. Good length and persistence. Liked this one better than expected. 16.5/20

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Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 1994 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape 83 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Translucent garnet/red, some orange in the rim. Notes of rust/iron, pepper, tomato, cooked vegetables, lavas. Very mature, slightly stemmy tannines. Still lots of power and structure left, but starting to get thinner. Off-bottle? 14/20

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  • 1999 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape 84 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Darker red, hint of browning. Barnyard, mushrooms, red berryfruit. Round, lush and revealing a hint of sweetness. Is that alcoholic sweetness? Mature wine, modernistic impression. An okay wine, lacking vigour and personality. 14.5/20

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Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 2003 Domaine Chante Cigale Châteauneuf-du-Pape 82 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Medium deep, bright red colour. Reticent nose, showing striking impressions of fresh, 'green' wood. Although the entry and mouthfeel of this wine is obviously soft, round and young, the aromatics of the wine were very tight and slighly disjointed. Somehow it had a green, underripe, stalky taste. A sub-optimal presentation, I guess. 13.5/20

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  • 2004 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 86 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Purple in the edge. Inviting nose of forest floor, blueberries, hazelnuts and flint. Palate is dominated by fresh red fruit and a soft but supportive tannic structure. Some alcoholic heat in the back. A good wine, not very complex though. 15.5/20

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Flight 4 (2 Notes)

  • 2004 Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Medium red, dark core. Fine-tuned, balanced nose: ripe cherries and an attractive vegetal note. Also on the palate there is a certain herbaceousness. Right now it seems closed but promising. A very fine wine. 16.5/20

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  • 2004 Domaine Duclaux (Famille Quiot) Châteauneuf-du-Pape 85 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Uh-oh. This feels like it has been pushed too far... Overripe brambly blueberries, nutty, chocolatey mocca-notes, alcoholic heat out of the glass. Sweet, licquor-like bouquet ('Coebergh'). In the mouth this is better, softer, but still pretty short and simple. A tad four-square, young and uneducated. 15/20

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Flight 5 (2 Notes)

  • 2001 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape 90 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Inviting and interesting, a real sniffer. There is a strikingly nutty association in the bouquet, hazelnuts, peanuts. In the mouth this has a wonderfully soft texture, yet concentrated and complex aromas. Robust and classy. Deep and dark, a great wine. 17.5/20

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  • 2000 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Some sulphur, but otherwise soft and supple. Notes of black and red fruit, earth. Difficult to unravel. Again very soft and easy, lacking vigour/bite. Reasses in 2 years? 16.5/20

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Flight 6 (2 Notes)

  • 2000 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Traditional, slightly rustic feel. Forest fruit, smoky, smothering fireplace, dry tobacco. Relatively elegant wine, Burgundian berry fruit, chocolate swirl. Complex mid-palate, somewhat clipped finish. Very fine. 16.5/20

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  • 2000 E. Guigal Côte-Rôtie Brune et Blonde 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Côte-Rôtie

    Wonderful bouquet! Really complex and seducing. Rather dark in its fruit, compared to the other wines. Blackberries? Heavily oaked, vanillapods, sweet tobacco, pastry and dairy. A modern wine, more syrah than grenache? 17/20

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Flight 7 (3 Notes)

  • 2003 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Candied, canned cherries in the nose, also rosehips, grenadine, milk chocolate, café au lait. Young and cracking, very tasty and appetizing. Very good. 17/20

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  • 2003 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape 87 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Hard candy, floral, sweet, a tad artificial. Although the dreamy, feminine floral perfum of sandalwood, roses and tropical flowers are pretty appealing, I cannot help finding the mid-palate slightly medicinal and uniteresting. Lacking finesse and maybe even a touch dilute. 16/20

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  • NV Domaine de Marcoux Raisin de Loup 81 Points

    France, Vin de Table Français

    Disjointed and vapid, mossy rocks, beef stock, drying tannines. Not very pleasant, sorry. 13/20

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Flight 8 (2 Notes)

  • 1998 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 86 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Sorry to say that this was a little ho-hum. Had great expectations when I bought this, but all together it was rather disappointing. Strange soupy aromas of cellery, broth and stewed meat. Intense, sultry and sweetish mouthfeel, yet the aromas are indistinctive, hard to separate from each other. Don't know if this bottle was a representative one. 15.5/20

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  • 1977 Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

    Italy, Abruzzi, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo

    If this is a chateauneuf than it's way over the hill! Caramel, prunes, raisins, lavas, cold coffee. Extremely drying in the mouth. After the unmasking I was puzzled, but also extremely disappointed. I remember this wine from some time ago and I was genuinely impressed by this traditional stuff. And bought some. This was not the wine that I had in mind... Hopefully this was an off-bottle. No score.

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Flight 9 (3 Notes)

  • 1997 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 90 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Liked the bouquet a lot! Lovely spiciness, bright, clean and well-focussed in its fragrance. Coarse-grained structure, completely mature and ready to drink. Good combination of tertiary characteristics and youthful vivaciousness. Excellent. 17.5/20

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  • 2000 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Tightly wound at the moment, aromatics are hard to pin down and describe now. Anyhow, this is ripe, lush and sweet. Still rather tannic, but I hear this is already getting better, integration has started. Very good wine. 17/20

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  • 1999 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape 88 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Modest, almost reticent bouquet. Finer grained that both preceding Pegau's. Tasty notes of milkchocolate, kirsch, strawberry cheesecake. No emotion here, kind of clinical and unresponsive. But no faults either. 16.5/20

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Flight 10 (2 Notes)

  • 2004 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 90 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Young, austere, tight. Cassis, blackberries, white pepper, Syrah-like in its presentation. Smoked sausage, creme de cassis and bbq-sauce on the palate. After aeration this is getting more playful, inviting and suave. Wonderful wine, tuck away in the cellar for 3 years. 17.5/20

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  • 2004 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape 89 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Very lascivious and seductive. Lots of concentration and juice on the mid-palate. Alcohol is starting to bother me now. But, all in all, I liked this for it's nuances of mint, Bassett's Allsorts and canned cherries, which give it a certain Australian twang. 17/20

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Flight 11 - Intermezzo (5 Notes)

  • 1995 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 87 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux

    Rounded and fat, oxidation has started. Honey covered figs and dates, oily, unctuous. Lacking subtlety. 16/20

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  • 1996 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 89 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux

    Good balance and freshness of fruit, fine acidity, bitter oranges in the aftertaste. Lovely. Paired best with a serving of terrine de foie gras. 17/20

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  • 1997 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 92 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux

    Very rich and deep, great pourriture. A strong foundation of acidity supports the wealthy and voluptuous structure. Very impressive and delightful. 18/20

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  • 1986 Château de Fesles Bonnezeaux 88 Points

    France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Bonnezeaux

    Citrus, beeswax, shoe-polish. Sweetness has diminished, lots of petrol, almost dry in the finish. Made me think of an old Riesling Auslese. But has more power (and less complexity, for that matter). Still nice, probably past its best. 16.5/20

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  • NV Freixenet Cava Reserva Real 83 Points

    Spain, Cava

    Elegant string of pearls, but quite aggresive in the mouth. Lots of foam, searing acidity, lemon juice. Lacking charm and depth. 14/20

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Flight 12 - Second half (2 Notes)

Flight 14 (3 Notes)

Flight 15 (2 Notes)

  • 1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence 92 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    This elixir of forestfruit is wonderfully pure in its definition and focus, but I was hoping for some more minerality, terroir. Feels slightly artificial, designed. No real errors, just lacking 'soul' at the moment. Beautiful crafted quality, though. 18/20

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  • 2001 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence 94 Points

    France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

    Hot rocks! Garrigue, smoke, underbrush, dark fruit, some alcoholic heat in the back. Polished and stylish, wonderful gravelly minerality. Great stuff. 18.5/20

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Flight 16 (3 Notes)

Flight 17 (2 Notes)

Closing

Personal WOTN: Guigal Chateau d'Ampuis 1997
Other wines to look out for: 2001 Pierre Usseglio Ch9, 1996 Beaucastel Roussanne VV.

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