Dan Kravitz comes for dinner

Seattle, WA, USA
Tasted Saturday, June 6, 2026 by Eric with 68 views

Introduction

Dan Kravitz was in town, so I hosted a dinner to celebrate Southern Rhône wines. Wonderful evening of lovely wine, food, friendship and conversation.

Flight 1 - Whites (2 Notes)

Flight 2 - Flight 1 (2 Notes)

Flight 3 - Flight 2 (2 Notes)

  • 2004 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet

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

    An outstanding 2004, sleek and cool, medium weight, very balanced.

    Post a Comment / 1 person found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

  • 2005 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet

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

    Sigh, 2005 is just no joy. Hard and clunky next to the 2004 on night 1 with much debate as to whether it was heat affected. Personally I felt like it was just an example of 2005, hard, tannic and foursquare. That said, I was amazed when I retasted the half-empty bottle two nights later. The wine was still tannic, but there is no oxidation at all. The fruit is deep, powerful and meaty. I would advise heavy decanting and sturdy food if you open one of these.

    Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 4 - Flight 3 (2 Notes)

  • 2010 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape 95 Points

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

    My WOTN, and even just 4 ounces left in the bottle this is STILL going strong two days later. Laser pure Grenache, deep, focused, mineral. Holy s**t, I can't believe how fresh and intense this is. Just glorious. Rayas and Bonneau just amaze me. And this is just the "basic" village wine. Beautiful perfume, not a lot of garrigue, more just lifted Grenache. Pure, red fruit, quite firm, stunning.

    Read 3 Comments / Post a Comment / 5 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

  • 2016 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée

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

    This was tough sledding, just funky, a bit reductive, sullen. Our bottle just never really opened up. Tasting it two days later (not a normal scenario) it has lost some freshness but is actually much better. Very intense, peppery, loaded with garrigue, VERY powerful, lots of tannins. This is going to be a beauty, but if you even think about opening this decant it for a few hours. It's a beast.

    Post a Comment / 7 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 5 - Flight 4 (2 Notes)

  • 2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée

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

    I bought way too much 2003 Châteauneuf-du-Pape in general, and many have been disappointing. However Pegau is NOT among the disappointments. Yes this is 2003, ripe, roasted, definite fig and fried fruit, but of the palate, deep, sweet core, all of the Provencale spices, endlessly long.

    Post a Comment / 3 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

  • 2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée da Capo

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

    The 2003 Da Capo and Cuvee Réservée were somewhat indistinguishable in their youth, but they have taken different paths over the past 23 years. The Cuvée da Capo lacks a bit of aromatic freshness, but the palate is unique. Dense, liqueur of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, powerful, almost overwhelming intensity and depth, not easy, but delicious and impressive.

    Post a Comment / 2 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No

Flight 6 - Flight 5 (2 Notes)

Closing

Another amazing evening of Southern Rhône wines.

×
×