2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Tasting
Beltramo's in Menlo Park, California
Tasted Thursday, October 15, 2009 by rjonwine@gmail.com with 966 views
Introduction
This was a well organized and very enjoyable tasting, featuring samples of the much lauded '07 vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape. There was time and sufficient quantities to permit confirmatory retasting of most of these wines. From these samples, I can better see why this vintage has received so much good advance press. (A couple of smaller '07 Rhone and CdP tastings I've been too recently were not as impressive. Those tastings suggested that there are some overripe, overoaked results from the vintage that remind me more of '03 than great CdP vintages like '05, '00 and '98.) I was particularly impressed by complex, well balanced offerings from more traditional producers--e.g., Vieux Telegraphe, Marcoux and Font de Michelle. Also very intriguing were the new CdP winemaking style represented by the Autards, especially the Cuvee Juline, whose unusual vinification process is described in the parenthetical after the TN below. Much less successful, in my opinion, were the producers who follow a less traditional style in terms of lots of new oak and over concentration. In this tasting, the Mordoree Cuvee de la Reine des Bois was the most disappointing example in that category.
My top wines in this tasting were the regular Font de Michelle and Vieux Telegraphe, closely followed by the Font de Michelle Etienne Gonnet, Autard Cuvee Juline, Brunel Les Cailloux, Grand Veneur Les Origines, Marcoux and the Pierre Usseglio.
Flight 1 - Paul Autard (3 Notes)
Flight 2 - la Barroche (3 Notes)
Flight 3 - Beaucastel (1 Note)
Flight 4 - Lucien et André Brunel (1 Note)
Flight 5 - Le Clos du Caillou (3 Notes)
Flight 6 - Font de Michelle (2 Notes)
Flight 7 - Giraud (1 Note)
Flight 8 - Grand Veneur (2 Notes)
Flight 9 - Marcoux (2 Notes)
Flight 10 - la Mordorée (1 Note)
Flight 11 - Roger Sabon (1 Note)
Flight 12 - Vieux Télégraphe (2 Notes)
Flight 13 - Pierre Usseglio (1 Note)
2007 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Dark cherry red color; oak, black fruit, tar, orange nose; tight but very tasty tart berry, blackberry, mineral palate with definition; medium-plus finish (70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Counoise)
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2007 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Juline 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very dark cherry red color; big, floral, berry, lilac, berry pie nose; ripe berry, berry pie, vanilla, boysenberry palate, a "modern" style CdP in a good way; medium-plus finish 93+ pts. (50% Syrah from 55-year-old vines on a parcel with sandy soil and 50% Grenache from 80-year-old vines from a parcel with round stones and sand, the Syrah and Grenache vinified separately; fermentation, vinification and maturation entirely in new, medium toast, Seguin-Moreau barrels with one side removed; 30-day maceration in these barrels with daily pigeage by hand; at end of 30 days, the wine is transferred to tank, the solids are pressed, and the juice then returned to the barrels; the barrel maker comes to the winery to replace the sides of the barrels, and the wine then begins its 16-month maturation period in these same barrels)
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2007 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée La Cote Ronde 93 Points
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Dark purple cherry red color; sexy pepper, blackberry, berry, mineral nose; tart plum, tart berry, mineral palate with balance; medium-plus finish (50/50 old vine Grenache and Syrah; 100% new oak)
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