Vinous

• By Josh Raynolds
  January/February 2010, IWC Issue #148 (link)

  (Vignobles Jean Royer Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Tradition) Subscribe to see review text.

JancisRobinson.com

• By Jancis Robinson, MW
  12/10/2008 (link)

  (Jean Royer Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red) Subscribe to see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/9/2009 (link)

  (ROYER Chateauneuf du Pape) 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Dear Friends, The frenzy is heating up over the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape vintage as the Wine Advocate Rhone review is set to debut in a few weeks. The proximity of the October issue's release has already caused a world-wide ripple of buying by wholesalers and distributors (not to mention consumers) and the wines were already in short supply. This is one of the only occasions I can remember where a non-Bordeaux issue of the Wine Advocate has had such dramatic impact on the entire global market, not just here in the US (maybe with Shiraz in its heyday circa the 2001-2002 vintage). The 2007 Rhone vintage is unique in many ways but its impact on the global wine trade is undeniable. With budgets tighter than in the past, the rush to stockpile 2007s has caused a lack of interest in other traditional areas (namely Bordeaux and Burgundy who had their fun a few years ago with the 2005s) - you could say the entire wine-world is a cherry picker right now and that would be an accurate description. Where does that leave the less fortunate, the 99% of the world's vintners in the over $20 category that do not produce Chateauneuf-du-Pape (or maybe 2006 Tuscan wine - the other hot button right now)? With a tough road to hoe. In one of the strangest set of circumstances, Piedmont has had too many good vintages in a row - the US wine consumer has a basket of riches to chose from with 4-5 top years to focus on and that leads to apathy. Where's the immediacy if the next 3-4 vintages are almost as good or even better? Of course, 2007 Napa will be the next hot pursuit and 2009 Burgundy and then Bordeaux - the market will continue to jump from region to region hoping to sustain a paper mache wine pipeline with a focus on only the most in-demand vintages. In the wine trade, today's news is tomorrow's fish and chips paper and the Southern Rhone better learn that quickly. My hunch is that the global market will take the entire 2008 Rhone vintage off no matter how hard people try to convince them that the wines are worthy. Why? To focus on 2009 Burgundy of course. So, where does that leave the 2007 Chateauneuf-du-Pape scramble? From a wholesale point of view, it's now or never as the opening bid prices on the 2007s will certainly not last past the next three weeks and most of the best wines are already long gone on 1st tranche. How high is too high? Only the consumer can make that judgment but expect $200 2007 Clos des Papes by November once the bottle score is released. With that, you expect us to uncover the rarest and most obscure (i.e., not necessarily the most expensive) and the two wines below certainly qualify. This producer is one you will not find on your corner store shelf. Only 25 cases of each were allocated for the entire US - less than 6 bottles per state - that's rare. Both are offered at their true 1st tranche price even though Royer is well into 3rd or 4th tranche by this point. 2007 is Royer's greatest achievement as a vintner. A producer not unlike Ponsot in Burgundy, when Royer gets it right, the wines are among the best at the very highest level (2007) - if not (2003), they are among the most perplexing. If you are seeking tradition, the type that has gone by the wayside in favor of slathered new oak and hot fermentations, this producer harkens to a bygone era that Jacques Reynaud and Henri Bonneau would be proud of (Bonneau is, in fact, a personal fan of Royer and the Hommage a Mon Pere is compared to Celestins stylistically - I'm sure Reynaud was also a fan during his lifetime). I've been quite critical of the 2007 vintage, that it is more Mollydooker in style than Wendouree, but not at Royer - these are stunning wines with soul, purpose and astute reflection of a vintage that (when the Grenache was kept in check) hit many long-balls out of the park. Here are two of them - directly from Jean Royer's cellar with impeccable provenance (these are NOT via the grey market): 2007 Jean Royer Chateauneuf du Pape EXTREMELY LIMITED (this is not the Le Petit Domaine - that is sourced from what is deemed not good enough for this cuvee - the last entry I could find for this wine was in 2005 and you can imagine how much more the 2007 will be...) As in Bordeaux, Chateauneuf still represents some of the finest value in France - if you know where to look and are not sucked in by the luxury cuvees. This is a near-perfect reflection of its site without any interference from man or wood: 2007 Jean Royer Chateauneuf du Pape "Hommage a Mon Pere" (WA90-92+) EXTREMELY LIMITED This is one of the rarest wines in all of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It is like traditional Grenache cement - I don't mean vinified in cement, I mean actual cement. I have no doubt that in 30 years when all the 2007s are blind tasted, this old-vine throwback will emerge as one of the finest of the vintage. It is not sexy or manufactured to a win a tasting in 2009 - it's for 2029 and beyond. Would be a terrific choice for a 2007 birth-year wine: Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Rhone7482 Rhone7483