Vieux Telegraphe 1981-1989 Blindtasted
Tom's House, Palo Alto, CA
Tasted Thursday, October 4, 2007 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 715 views
Introduction
Introductory comments by Ross Bott, tasting organizer:
Domaine Vieux Telegraphe is named after an old optical telegraph tower overlooking the property -- essentially a telescope for reading flags from the previous hill and a semaphore flag station for relaying messages on to the next hill. The French government eventually replaced this method by a "real" electric telegraph system in 1846 even though it was feared that the new fangled system was prone to sabotage by cutting the wires.
The tower overlooked an anvil-shaped plain called Plateau La Crau just northwest of the town of Chateauneuf. About 50 years after the optical telegraph tower was obseleted by the wireline telegraph, Hippolyte Brunier first planted grapes on the plain, and subsequent generations eventually expanded the La Crau vineyards to about 85 acres. Hippolyte's son Jules built a winery on the plain and christened it Vieux Telegraphe after the old tower. Jules' son was Henri, who in the 1960s and 1970s revitalized the property, expanded the vineyards, and turned Vieux Telegraphe into one of the leading Chateauneuf domaines before turning it over in 1988 to his sons, Daniel and Fredric, who continue to run the property today. In 1991, the domaine finally honored the plain on which all of the vineyards are planted by adding "La Crau" to the label.
The vineyard is composed of 65% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvedre, and 5% to Cinsault and other red varietals, as well as white varietals Grenache Blanc, Roussanne, Clairette and Bourboulenc. The vineyards are tended according to "la culture raisonee", essentially an organic agriculture approach involving minimal intervention, which has become increasingly the fashion in recent years in France. And, in this world of increasingly flashy, oak-driven Chateauneufs, Vieux Telegraphe remains the epitome of the old style, raised in old oak puncheons, tannic and tight when young, but capable of glorious cedar, black pepper, mineral and black cherry complexity when given a decade or three of age.
Kermit Lynch in Berkeley, California developed a friendship with the Brunier family in the late 1970s, bringing the first vintages seen in the US in the late 1970s and continues to be the major importer of Vieux Telegraphe. Kermit and the Bruniers now also co-own Domaine Les Pallieres in nearby Gigondas.
Tonight we'll have a special tasting covering the Vieux Telegraphes of the 1980s, the final decade of Henri Brunier's winemaking at the domaine before turning it over to Daniel and Fredric. Several of these vintages, including the 1981, 1984 and 1986, were relatively unheralded when released but now have blossomed into beautiful wines, rivaling or exceeding the more famous outstanding vintages 1985, 1988 and 1989. Here's the lineup:
1981 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1983 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1984 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1985 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1986 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1987 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1988 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
1989 Vieux Telegraphe (12.5%)
Flight 2 - VT - My TNs and group scoring (8 Notes)
2001 Rosemount Estate GSM 91 Points
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Medium dark red color; focused ripe cherry and caramel nose; tasty, concentrated palate with depth, spice, bramble, blackberry and raspberry; medium finish
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2001 Goldschmidt Vineyard Shiraz Forefathers 91 Points
Australia, South Australia, Fleurieu, McLaren Vale
Medium cherry red color; caramel oak nose; tart red fruit, iron, tart plum palate with sweet, firm tannins and green eucalyptus notes; medium finish 91+ pts.
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2001 Rosenblum Cellars Syrah Hillside Vineyards 81 Points
USA, California, Sonoma County
Dark red violet color; narrow tart cassis nose; cassis and heavy, heavy American oak, soft, low acidity; medium drying finish
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