2004 Chateauneufs du Pape

Rich and Peggy's House
Tasted Sunday, February 10, 2013 by europat55 with 527 views

Introduction

Notes from the organizer:

"The 2004 vintage in Chateauneuf du Pape came after two very difficult vintages -- 2002, which was inundated by rain during the harvest leaving most Chateauneuf domaines to declassify their wine to Cotes du Rhone, and 2003, which was extremely hot, producing powerful but somewhat atypical wines. Like 2003, 2004 was hit by drought, but without the extreme heat of the previous vintage, but yields were still down 40% from average. Berries came in small and concentrated, in contrast to 2003 where only Grenache shined, all Chateauneuf varietals did well, especially Mourvedre. As Paul Avril, winemaker at Clos des Papes has said "Mourvèdre is the tendon, Grenache is the flesh.", and in 2004 the wines had both the Mourvedre structure as well as the rich Grenache fruit.

Looking back from three superrich, superripe vintages in 2007, 2009 and 2010, the 2004 vintage sometimes gets lost, but the wines in this earlier vintage are probably more typical than any of these three more famous ones. And at nine years, we should start to see some of the meaty, spicy, garrigue-scented complexities that Chateauneufs begin to show with age. Tonight, we'll try two of the stars of the vintage, Clos des Papes and Beaucastel, along with several lesser known rivals which exceled in this vintage -- Grand Veneur Les Origines, Cuvee du Vatican Sixtine, La Bastide Saint Dominique, and Eddie Feraud. And, as in our 2003 Chateauneuf tasting in January, we'll have one ringer each from Spain, California and Australia. Here are some tasting notes:"

Flight 1 - Pre-Tasting (1 Note)

Flight 2 - Main Flight (9 Notes)

×
×