Chateauneuf du Pape lunch
Frank's place in Matraville
Tasted August 23, 2020 by chatters with 135 views
Introduction
Frank and I have been kicking around the idea of doing a bit of a CndP thing for a little while and we finally got round to it.
Flight 1 - Bracket one - Beaucastel blanc (2 notes)
matched to a chilli spiced quiche which rather blew these 2007 out of the water. I think the wines needed something a little 'gentler' and more subtle but the 2008 just about held it's own...
Flight 2 - Bracket two - Brunel (8 notes)
Matched to pickled shrooms, rocket and proscuito salad.
We did two brackets of four wines (to save on washing up) hits and misses here for me. Of this lot the 2006 Cailloux was probably the most shiningest with the 2005 and 2001 snapping at it's heels
Red
1998 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Initially there is a bit of cellar stink and slight volatility, then red currant and red berry fruit, leather, charcuterie, earth, mushroom and a touch of raisins with time. In the mouth there is juicy acidity, it's savoury and meaty with red currants and red berry fruit, still has chalky tannins but proves wetly enjoyable.
Red
2001 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Rich, slightly polished, red berries, leather, a little black pepper spice, slight alcohol warmth, slight raisins and, with time, a touch of blackberry and bramble. In the mouth it's juicy initially then plenty of tannins that dry things out. Structure is out-lasting the fruit but this is still pleasing.
Red
2005 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Medium minus intensity aromas initially. Showed tomato leaf, baked beans, red berries that tend to raspberry, a little Framboise in fact, sweet spice and a little pepper. Juicy, muted red fruits prove spicy, talc textured tannins. Long. Yum.
Red
2006 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Peppery, fresh minced beef, spiced blackberry, herbceous notes, with time the fruit gets jubey with a little sweet red berry underpin. In the mouth the wine has juicy acidity, non-intrusve alcohol warmth, those jubey red fruits, talc textured tannins sit in the background. Lovely.
Red
2007 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Slightly gamey, rich, with dark fruits; plums and blackberry, alcohol warmth, baking spices. With time a little dusty, baked earthy quality on the nose. It's fairly dense on the palate, chewy rather than overtly tannic, dark hued fruit and there is some alcoholic heft here as well. Bit of a big boy.
Red
2008 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Slightly sour red berries and red currant, sweet spice, garrigue, quite fresh herbs, earth...the longer this is in the glass the more savoury the nose gets. In the mouth it's tannic and dense, quite drying with savoury dark fruits beneath this accompanied by a little herbaceousness. Hmm.
Red
2009 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Plums, meaty, earthy, sweet spice, herbs, black pepper, blackberry, brambles start to show with time. Juicy, plummy, earthy backed by savoury brambles and slightly chalky tannic grip on the mid palate.
Flight 3 - Bracket three - Beaucastel red (5 notes)
Matched to rib roast, roast spuds and green beans.
well, lots to love here - the 12 stands out stylistically from the other wines in the bracket but the 10 and the 05 also hit the spot for me.
Red
2005 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Blackberry, blue berry, hints of black pepper and a sense of denseness. Leather, herbaceous notes but freshens with time in the glass. In the mouth it's juicy, fleshy, talc textured tannins accompany pretty black fruits. Balanced. Lovely
Red
2007 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Quite gamey initially then rich, very rich, ripe, concentrated black and red fruit, baked herbs, a little cream...might be a tiny smidge of taint here as well. On the palate it has sweet dark fruits, blocky, grippy tannins...this is still fairly monolithic for me. Hmm.
Red
2009 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Wow, initially very oyster shell and salinity on the nose then jubey red and blackberry, a little black pepper spice. In the mouth it's juicy and fleshy with black hued fruits, drying talc textured tannins, black tea and black peppercorns on the palate. Mmm. Not as good as I remember this last time but still pleasant.
Red
2010 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Aromas of garrigue, dense, savoury, plummy fruit and a little jubey black and red berries. In the mouth the wine is juicy, plummy with balckberry and a little sweet spice. Flour textured tannins provide weight, long. Young but very nice.
Red
2012 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Perfumed, jubey red berries, slightly meaty elements, pretty nose, shows a little sweet spice, cream, almost a touch of butter as well. On the palate it's softly juicy but fresh...utterly pleasing, elegant, fruit driven and still very primary. Wonderful.
Flight 4 - Bracket four - CdR from CndP (3 notes)
Matched to a small selection of cheese (Pont 'Eveque and Gruyere).
As Frank and I both had the 98 Coudoulet we thought we have a look at bottle (cork?) variation in 22 year old wines...unsurprisingly there was some! Frank also pulled out the Tardieu Laurent...
Red
1998 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
From Coravin. Grainy, leathery, garrigue, funky, raspberry, slightly dusty notes, a little alcohol warmth and a tiny touch of volatility. with time it also starts to show some raisins. In the mouth the acidity is assisted by the volatility, red currant fruit, leather, raisins, chalky textured tannins. Hmm.
Red
2007 Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes
France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
From Coravin. Medium plus intensity aromas of coconut, vanilla, caramel; plenty of new oak here, brambly black fruit and a touch of taint. In the mouth ti's juicy but think and dense with chewy tannins, similar levels of oak and ripe blackberry fruit, alcohol warmth intrudes on the finish, still very primary and a bit porty. Hmm.
Flight 5 - Bracket five - Dessert (1 note)
matched this pleasingly subtle (possible a little too subtle) Coteaux du Layon to tart with berries
Closing
A lot of fun...the step up in class from the Brunel Cailloux to the Beaucastel was tangible (which isn't a disservice to the Brunel's; they were still very nice wines)
this was also the first time we have done a whole meal matching purely to Coravin'ed wines - the only wine that we opened was the Coteaux du Layon...
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