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Chateuaneuf in ATL 9/28/08
Tasted September 28, 2008 by decaturwinedude with 643 views
Introduction
A group of ten, including ebobbers Peter Simpson, Bob Fleming, Hardy Wallace, Michael Bowden, Fred Schwartz, and Eric Brown gathered last night to taste some Chateauneufs. Don C made a brief appearance and was kind enough to leave a bottle with us. He was there in spirit.
Flight 1 (4 notes)
Red
1994 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape
flawed
Flawed. Bummer. Unless you like nail polish remover and stewed prunes.
Red
1994 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve
Cloudy light red. Lightest-colored wine of the flight. Nose is soft, floral. Palate has tart red fruit, some raspberry, nice acidity. A delicious feminie wine that really opened nicely with air. Bob saved his glass and after two hours the nose was profound. Gave me chills. WOTF and WOTN.
Red
1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée
93 points
Nose has some brett, but just enough if you dig it. I did. Palate is precise. Mouth coating cherry fruit, some meaty essence and youthful, expansive acidty. Long, peppered finish.Really quite nice. I wrote young-ish. Top 3 of the night for me.
Red
1998 Domaine La Bouïssiere Gigondas
85 points
Darkest wine of the flight. Deep purple. Someone said Aussie Shiraz nose. Lacked acidity. Seemed tired. Nothing obviously wrong, but nothing to write home about either.
Flight 2 (4 notes)
Red
2001 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée La Cote Ronde
Beautiful nose. Earthy, herbal, some smoke. Little bit of alcohol pokes out on a tightly-wound palate. Sweet dark fruit, pepper and some leather, too. Nice, but needs some time. Like to try again in a few years.
Red
2004 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pignan Reserve
Floral nose. Sweet black cherry fruit and a streak of minerality on the palate. Slightly wound up, but good things on the horizon for this one. Nice showing.
Red
2001 Domaine de Beaurenard (Paul Coulon et Fils) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard
Disappointing bottle here. Nose was almost non-existant. Palate was rough, tannic, spikes of alcohol amidst dark blue fruit. Bottle may have been comprimised. Hardy and I couldn't figure this one out.
Red
1996 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Very good showing. Group like this more than I did initially. High-toned sweet cherry and herbal notes on the palate. Reveals more earth, leather and pepper with time. Opened nicely over time. WOTF.
Flight 3 (4 notes)
Red
2005 Copain Les Copains James Berry Vineyard
Sweet cherry fruit and floral nose. Dark, jammy fruit on the palate. Stands out as California. Full-throttle and ready to drink. Nice enough.
Red
2004 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve le Clos du Caillou
Slightly reductive nose. Funky. Palate is dark fruited and hot. Needs something. Time perhaps? Not in a good space right now. DOTF.
Red
2003 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The bottle Dr. Don left for us. There was a lot going on here. I wasn't crazy about a lot of it. I think I'd like to try this again in five years. It was just too packed for me right now. Candied fruit, sweet cherries, some garrigue. But it borders on being OTT. Bit of alcohol poking about. A few at the table liked it, but some skeptics on this one.
Red
2005 L'Aventure Côte-à-Côte Estate
I struggled with this one. Initiallly, the nose was awful...reductive, tire rubber, chemistry lab stuff. Palate was syrupy, jammy, slightly hot. However, I was alone in my observation as the table thought this was pretty good. With exteneded air it showed much better.Maybe it was just me. WOTF.