France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This is another good example of why I don't like Rhone whites. Despite being fairly light in colour, this is a wine completely driven by a heavy waxiness and concentration that is way over the top in comparison to any minerality or acidity. A lack of freshness and a weighty bitterness detracts further from this wine.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Some significant signs of bricking here, and fairly light in colour. The nose shows some dried fruit, particularly featuring some dried dates and figs. There are also notes of spice and cedar here. The palate is slightly sweet, and showing some very lovely secondary characteristics. Delicate and pretty, this is probably at peak, as it faded in the glass. My #1, group's #3.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A bit more funk than the clean 1989. Darker fruit on the nose, this is showing a bit more dense and powerful. A lot more structured than the 1989, which was soft and fading in the class. On the other hand, this seemed mostly structural and didn't quite have the same fleshiness. Air certainly improved this wine, in contrast to the 1989, but this was a bit too stern for my palate at this point. My #3, group's #2.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. This was one of my favourite wines in the lineup, although it was showing surprisingly advanced for its age (it was in comfortable company with the 1989 and 1990). Certainly darker in colour than the others, but the palate has a fairly autumnal sensation as well. Relatively speaking, this isn't too ripe, and there's a bit of barnyard, sweet cherries, and spice. The palate is again structured, but with much more acidity than many of the other wines. My #2, group's #8.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A touch of red fruit on the nose, as well as a good bit of freshbess. High-toned, a bit of aldehyde, and some sweet cherries. The palate surprisingly didn't come off as particularly ripe or extracted, and the tannins aren't too dense. To be sure, the fruit is fairly fleshy, but the palate isn't too complex. My #5, group's #4.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Plummy and a bit of stewiness on the nose. Not too structured here, this is just slightly tired and showing a bit older than it should have (and certainly not quite as well as the regular 1998). This is soft on the palate and not too convincing. A slight touch of pepper on the palate does add a bit of interesting. My #6, group's #7.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. The nose shows a surprising amount of tart crunchy fruit on the nose, as well as a bit of herbaceousness and tobacco. The palate is cooler, with a really nice light freshness and some stemmy tones. Light touch and not heavy at all. My #4, group's #9.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A significant amount of bricking. The nose has some coffee, barnyard, cocoa, chocolate, and an odd unpleasant milkiness as well. The palate is sweet, barnyardy, fleshy, and not too structured. The fruit is a stewed as well. My #7, group's #12.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Extremely stewy nose and palate. Overripe, lots of sickly sweet fruit, and a bit of manure as well. Mostly unpleasant. A floppy, shapeless mass that primarily shows dirtiness. My #12, group's #5.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Out of all the wines, this was one that started showing a little bit of garnet. Stinky and bretty, but not to the point this was unenjoyable, though it certainly wasn't great either. The palate is reasonably structured, with a bit more acid than most of the other wines, but also a brown spice/coffee note. Some structure, but definitely on the softer side. My #8, group's #6.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A nose of Sharpie marker: high-toned and aldehydic. A bit of smokiness as well. The palate is less offensive, but that's perhaps where it ends. Seems a little foursquare in that this doesn't have much interesting to say. One of the higher concentration and extraction wines in the lineup, but fortunately this seems to have the structure to hold it up. A touch of alcoholic heat on the back end. My #9, group's #10.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Less high-toned than the regular 2005, but still a bit of sharpie marker and other unpleasant aldehydic aromas. Really sappy and sweet on the palate, without any of the necessary structure to hold this wine apart. This seems to be softer and less focussed than the regular 2005, and could really use a dose of acidity. My #10, group's #1.
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Hint of coffee on the nose, this is a very, very heady wine where the alcohol is already prominent on the nose. The palate is worse -- it's all sweet fruit (starting its inevitable decay into stewiness), followed by... nothing? Structureless, this is not a wine that can hold its shape at all. A bulbous, flaccid mass of fruit that isn't pleasant, which in the context of the vintage, is showing true to it. My #11, group's #11.
From half-litre. Reminds me more of sharpie marker ink than wine. The nose is high-toned with some sickly sweet black fruit, and the palate is pretty much the same. A bit sweet, with a touch of acidity. A bit simplistic and easy. There were also some high-toned chemically flavours on the palate that detracted from the wine.
2011 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 70 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
This is another good example of why I don't like Rhone whites. Despite being fairly light in colour, this is a wine completely driven by a heavy waxiness and concentration that is way over the top in comparison to any minerality or acidity. A lack of freshness and a weighty bitterness detracts further from this wine.
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1989 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Some significant signs of bricking here, and fairly light in colour. The nose shows some dried fruit, particularly featuring some dried dates and figs. There are also notes of spice and cedar here. The palate is slightly sweet, and showing some very lovely secondary characteristics. Delicate and pretty, this is probably at peak, as it faded in the glass. My #1, group's #3.
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1990 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A bit more funk than the clean 1989. Darker fruit on the nose, this is showing a bit more dense and powerful. A lot more structured than the 1989, which was soft and fading in the class. On the other hand, this seemed mostly structural and didn't quite have the same fleshiness. Air certainly improved this wine, in contrast to the 1989, but this was a bit too stern for my palate at this point. My #3, group's #2.
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2004 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. This was one of my favourite wines in the lineup, although it was showing surprisingly advanced for its age (it was in comfortable company with the 1989 and 1990). Certainly darker in colour than the others, but the palate has a fairly autumnal sensation as well. Relatively speaking, this isn't too ripe, and there's a bit of barnyard, sweet cherries, and spice. The palate is again structured, but with much more acidity than many of the other wines. My #2, group's #8.
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2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A touch of red fruit on the nose, as well as a good bit of freshbess. High-toned, a bit of aldehyde, and some sweet cherries. The palate surprisingly didn't come off as particularly ripe or extracted, and the tannins aren't too dense. To be sure, the fruit is fairly fleshy, but the palate isn't too complex. My #5, group's #4.
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1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence 88 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Plummy and a bit of stewiness on the nose. Not too structured here, this is just slightly tired and showing a bit older than it should have (and certainly not quite as well as the regular 1998). This is soft on the palate and not too convincing. A slight touch of pepper on the palate does add a bit of interesting. My #6, group's #7.
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1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 90 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. The nose shows a surprising amount of tart crunchy fruit on the nose, as well as a bit of herbaceousness and tobacco. The palate is cooler, with a really nice light freshness and some stemmy tones. Light touch and not heavy at all. My #4, group's #9.
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1995 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 85 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A significant amount of bricking. The nose has some coffee, barnyard, cocoa, chocolate, and an odd unpleasant milkiness as well. The palate is sweet, barnyardy, fleshy, and not too structured. The fruit is a stewed as well. My #7, group's #12.
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2001 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 80 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Extremely stewy nose and palate. Overripe, lots of sickly sweet fruit, and a bit of manure as well. Mostly unpleasant. A floppy, shapeless mass that primarily shows dirtiness. My #12, group's #5.
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2000 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 85 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Out of all the wines, this was one that started showing a little bit of garnet. Stinky and bretty, but not to the point this was unenjoyable, though it certainly wasn't great either. The palate is reasonably structured, with a bit more acid than most of the other wines, but also a brown spice/coffee note. Some structure, but definitely on the softer side. My #8, group's #6.
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2005 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 85 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. A nose of Sharpie marker: high-toned and aldehydic. A bit of smokiness as well. The palate is less offensive, but that's perhaps where it ends. Seems a little foursquare in that this doesn't have much interesting to say. One of the higher concentration and extraction wines in the lineup, but fortunately this seems to have the structure to hold it up. A touch of alcoholic heat on the back end. My #9, group's #10.
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2005 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence 83 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Less high-toned than the regular 2005, but still a bit of sharpie marker and other unpleasant aldehydic aromas. Really sappy and sweet on the palate, without any of the necessary structure to hold this wine apart. This seems to be softer and less focussed than the regular 2005, and could really use a dose of acidity. My #10, group's #1.
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2007 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 80 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Served blind in a Pégaü lineup. Hint of coffee on the nose, this is a very, very heady wine where the alcohol is already prominent on the nose. The palate is worse -- it's all sweet fruit (starting its inevitable decay into stewiness), followed by... nothing? Structureless, this is not a wine that can hold its shape at all. A bulbous, flaccid mass of fruit that isn't pleasant, which in the context of the vintage, is showing true to it. My #11, group's #11.
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2001 M. Chapoutier Banyuls Terra Vinya 80 Points
France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Banyuls
From half-litre. Reminds me more of sharpie marker ink than wine. The nose is high-toned with some sickly sweet black fruit, and the palate is pretty much the same. A bit sweet, with a touch of acidity. A bit simplistic and easy. There were also some high-toned chemically flavours on the palate that detracted from the wine.
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