Much, much better than last time. No prunes, good, irony feel, more Gigondas-terroir here. A positive surprise, no need to keep this, though. #H&A#N&K#CarlsbergByen
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Unfortunately marked by oak on both he nose and the palate. It’s such a shame because there is plenty of cherry fruit under the oak to make this wine interesting. While the oak is has settled down it is still intruding and provides notes of vanilla and coconut oil on the nose and it makes the palate tannic and dry. Such a shame, this could have been an interesting wine. La Contadine.
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Opened with severe notes of nail polish - much better on day 2. Still,m this is very much a 2003 wine, very rich, quite alcoholic, but give it air and a solid, fresh fruit enters the picture. I don't see this going anywhere, though, drink up, if you have it.
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showing its age, brown around the edges. Fruit fading and tannin is still there. Ok to drink but not a great bottle and probably just reflects the vintage.
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Black fruit, pepper, olive and spice flavors. Tannins more pronounced, but fruit still comes through. Not as good as other Valbelle vintages, but very nice on a Friday night with grilled swordfish.
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Very difficult to score this one - do decant; certainly marked by the vintage with intense alcohol, concentration of fruit, tannins and a rather masculine style, muscle rather than finesse as a previous taster noted. Will this ever come around as balanced? I doubt it, and so does Louis Barroul, he told me as much. Still, a blockbuster, and many punters will like it.
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I once had the 2007 served double blind to me by a friend, and found it to be a hot, ripe, alcoholic mess of a wine. Right or wrong, I've never sought out Valbelle as a result and had low expectations for this bottle. I am glad to say that I may have been wrong not to seek it out, as this was a lovely bottle, showing florals, red and black fruit and tapenade in the bouquet. Medium-bodied and nicely integrated on the palate as well. Balanced from start to finish. Tapenade, pepper, red fruit and spice flavors carrying through the finish. No reason to hold this in my opinion, as it is drinking very well right now.
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Lately, I have been drinking the 09 Gigondas and it is probably unfair to compare this bottle to an 09. The fruit was there, but it was muted. The tannis were broken down and the wine was very smooth, but a bit bland.
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Medium-dark red color with limited transparency throughout. Medium amount of sediment stuck to side of bottle with some in the punt at the end. Served without decanting. Aromas of cherry, earth, cooked plum, sweet olive, and a hint of anise. Palate shows polish with fully integrated tannins providing a frame for ripe cherry and cherry pie fruit filling that is joined by sweet olive, blueberry, and fennel notes that carry into a medium-short finish. Easy and ready to drink. Fruit dissipates on day 2, but still an interesting wine. Drink or hold.
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An interesting experience - given the freakish heat of the 2003 vintage I was expecting a gloop-fest but this aint too bad. To be fair this wine has managed to come out of the vintage in reasonable shape - starting to mature- ripe and slightly plummy, but with some southern French herbs. Aniseed and fennel coming through on the finish. The tannins and structure are struggling to keep up with the fruit and I'd be inclined to enjoy it while it is ripe and full. Wont make old bones, but with a decant this is pretty decent stuff for winter quaffing with fat, hearty stews.
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my notes would be similar to grape juice on day 2...appearance was fine and served it chilled given the weather and outside....rich red fruits and a bit of heat...a nice drink and certainly not a 2003 mess by any means
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2012 - A brand new start with the gang: Alcohol :: 14.5% Cloudy dark red with light brown rim. Popped and poured. Beautiful complex nose of kirsch, raspberry, red cherry intermixed with a touch of dark fruits, pepper, licorice, roasted herbs and mineral. Muscular on the palate but well defined. It immediately coated the mouth with high tannin and intensity. This does possess sufficient level of concentration and fruits for the balance but just at the moment the structured is dominated. Long spicy infused finish.
2nd day: Similar nose that is complex and intense. The structured has mellow down and tannin is well integrated. Smooth entry with very good mid palate depth and sappiness that formed by the delicious concentration of sweet red and dark fruits, a touch of spices and some woody tone. Finished is long and spicy, but also a touch of alcohol heat appeared.
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One Year Anniversary Celebration (Heirloom Cafe, San Francisco): Magnum. Light ruby. Gorgeous raspberry fruit, spice and increasing garrigue over time. Yes, it has naturally sweet fruit, but in a style that is distinctly crisp and well honed for a 2003 due to outstanding acidity. Like the Hominis Fide tasted recently, this far exceeded my expectations and showed none of the roasted character of the vintage. This worked great with grilled beef and was simply delicious.
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Still drinking well. Elegant and well structured with notes of stone, earth, and currants. Well within drinking window, but showing some fading of the body and fruit. Medium red throughout, a little bricking around the edges.
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Should have read the other notes before opening this. Way too young, tannic and tight. I'm going to see if a few hours in a decanter will help.... It did. After four hours, things had moderated so that the tannins and fruit weren't sticking out as much and so obvious. Fairly restrained nose with noticeable lavender. This is a modern-styled wine, full of stuffing. Best to drink with strongly-flavored foods. I had it with a leg-of-lamb stuffed with lots of garlic. If you decant this, it is drinkable now, but I think it needs three years or so additional cellaring.
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Agreed with the other notes that this is too young. The raw materials were there, but they were just not well knitted together. Took a couple of decanting hours to quieten down the tannins a bit. Still I guess I shd have let this bottle sleep for another 2-3 years.
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very hot on opening, opened up after a few hours. Lots of intense red berry/plum fruit on the nose, great colour, starting to take on some brickishess at the rim. Still too young. quite tannic. Was better the next day after some oxidising.
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Lots of fruit, but I find the fruit and the toasty oak are still duking it out. Will the oak ultimately recede? I really enjoyed meeting Louis Barroul a few years back, but I feat this may not be my style
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At its peak now, the 2003 Valbelle is a plum wine: on the nose, plum fruit (but also quite a noticable aroma of lavender, sweet oak, and then a musky tobacco note). The lavender is perhaps just a bit much, actually. Soft, low acidity, medium length finish, rather sweet, tannins supporting the fruit and giving structure. A good wine, perfect for spaghetti with meat sauce. Needs to be drunk; I hesitated about dropping down to 89 pts
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Powerful, oaky nose but the fruit is there to match; still tannic, quite a bit of new oak which is well judged, a mix of red & black fruit, flashy but no jamminess & alcohol not out of kilter. Not classic herby Gigondas, definitely in the modern style but not over the top. Well crafted, wth potential to improve. Needs 5 years to peak.
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Costaud et tannique à l’ouverture. Le bois sera malheureusement un élément présent tout au long de la dégustation sur deux ou trois heures. Avec deux heures, il s’intègre mieux et on trouve avec plaisir de la garrigue et du fruit rouge mais l’ensemble est encore bien tannique. Bonne concentration et texture assez agréable mais je crains qu’on ait trop poussé sur l’élevage et l’extraction. Trop jeune certainement. Peut-être que l’avenir me donnera tort dans 3 ou 5 ans. En attendant, je suis bien loin des notes enthousiastes de Parker et Tanzer. 88 pts
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Day 1: Popped and poured, this wine is big, rich..almost massive, first sip. After letting breath in glass for 30 minutes, this opened up a tad, a strong aroma of blackberry and raspberry, w/some spice. Full bodied and decadent, w/a long, creamy finish. Excellent. Day 2: The wine has opened up and softened, not quite as hedonistic, still very good. Have a couple more left, will decant for an hour or two, and consume on day 1, next time. Really good stuff.
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Mixed blindtasting (Finn's appartment): Dark red color with a bluish rim. Great nose with raspberry, strawberry, plums, pepper, spices, cinnamon and a bit of acetone. More brooding on the palate with notes of blueberry, blackcurrant and plums first, while switching to sweet licorice and dark chocolate on the midpalate, before finally showing some ink and chalk on the finish. Very powerful acidity and tannin. Way too young.
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Dark red color. Nose of red fruits, leather, olives, and black pepper. On the palate, the black olives and black pepper notes from the nose dominate with moderately aggressive tannins dominating the back half of the mid-palate and long finish. With time open in the bottle, the red fruit notes emerge with a cough-drop like sweetness (candied, slightly artificial and medicinally herbal). If the tannins can subside before the fruit does, this will be lovely. Hold for another 3-5 years. Resample in 2.
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Dark rich purple and on opening a rustic light brett quality that over time became more fruit dominated showing some ripe dark fruit textures and a light earthy mineral backing. Very firm frame showing dusty, but tasty tannins and a lot of fruit and interesting layers that tended to be hemmed in by the framework. The fruit opened up over the evening, and then shut down after several hours. A lot of substance here for the long haul.
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Delicious, substantial wine. Minerals ('dirt') on the palate with base of dark fruits. Nice balance, elegance. Tried with a couple of non-rhone grenaches and it clearly stood out for its dpth and substance.
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Great nose...earthy, organic, mushrooms...fruit of dark berries, plum, a touch of prune all consistent on the palate with a mouthfull of stoney dust. maybe a touch overripe, but the other, non-fruit characteristics are powerful enough to distract attention from fruit. medium finish. medium++ complexity.
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Lovely nose of dark berries and spice. The palate is medium bodied, plush with blackberry, blueberry and ripe plums. Licorice, dried herbs and a dash of pepper. Good length on the finish with firm, chalky tannins. Very good but needs time to resolve some of the tannins.
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Tasted in double-blind fashion at Vintage Wines, Ltd. The bottle was kindly provided by John Pollack. Deep ruby in color, this wine sports a very intense nose of blackberries, black plums, vanilla and exotic spices. Full-bodied on the palate, with low acidity and medium ripe tannins. The flavors are similar to the nose and the finish is long. Very nice!
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Drinking even better than I remembered; primary fruit is still in the black raspberry/plum spectrum, with melted licorice, tobacco, lavender. Sweet, medium bodied, very rich and long. Great success for St. Cosme in this very difficult year!
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Medium ruby. Dark aromas of ripe plums, licorice, garrigue, ripe red currents sitting in the sun, dust. Palate is sweet, saturated, rich, long; substantial acidity frames the wine. An outstanding Valbelle. Very dense, almost chewy. While I see mention of "surmaturite" in other community TNs, I find no evidence of overripeness or roasted fruit flavors or aromas here -- people worried about the 03 vintage won't have issues with this wine... a safe bet!
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Consumed from magnum. Big, open, fruity wine - lots of ripe berries. On the palate, very similar - ripe berries, chocolate - very concentrated fruit. Great, long finish. Drinking well tonight, but seems to have the structure to age as well.
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Dark purple; big nose of plum, cassis, ripe ripe fruit; rich palate noticibly surmaturite presumably as a result of the vintage; very good but not representative of most Gigondas
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2/24/2024 - beatles wrote: 90 Points
Much, much better than last time. No prunes, good, irony feel, more Gigondas-terroir here. A positive surprise, no need to keep this, though.
#H&A#N&K#CarlsbergByen
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10/7/2020 - pbaek wrote:
Unfortunately marked by oak on both he nose and the palate. It’s such a shame because there is plenty of cherry fruit under the oak to make this wine interesting. While the oak is has settled down it is still intruding and provides notes of vanilla and coconut oil on the nose and it makes the palate tannic and dry. Such a shame, this could have been an interesting wine. La Contadine.
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1/15/2020 - beatles wrote: 89 Points
Opened with severe notes of nail polish - much better on day 2. Still,m this is very much a 2003 wine, very rich, quite alcoholic, but give it air and a solid, fresh fruit enters the picture. I don't see this going anywhere, though, drink up, if you have it.
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6/5/2018 - Mr T wrote:
showing its age, brown around the edges. Fruit fading and tannin is still there. Ok to drink but not a great bottle and probably just reflects the vintage.
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1/10/2016 - Mr T wrote:
Tasty but pretty ripe stuff...drink up
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8/7/2015 - no leashes wrote: 89 Points
Black fruit, pepper, olive and spice flavors. Tannins more pronounced, but fruit still comes through. Not as good as other Valbelle vintages, but very nice on a Friday night with grilled swordfish.
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7/27/2015 - beatles wrote:
Very difficult to score this one - do decant; certainly marked by the vintage with intense alcohol, concentration of fruit, tannins and a rather masculine style, muscle rather than finesse as a previous taster noted. Will this ever come around as balanced? I doubt it, and so does Louis Barroul, he told me as much. Still, a blockbuster, and many punters will like it.
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4/5/2015 - rm97 wrote: 89 Points
wasnt as good as last bottle
Tannins overwhelmed fruit
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6/13/2014 - d'Artagnan wrote: 87 Points
un vin décevant, qui a séché, trop extrait, des arômes de fruit compoté. De la structure, du muscle, mais sans esprit.
Des critiques pourtant dithyrambiques....ils n'ont pas toujours raison! :(
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12/12/2013 - AllRed wrote: 93 Points
I once had the 2007 served double blind to me by a friend, and found it to be a hot, ripe, alcoholic mess of a wine. Right or wrong, I've never sought out Valbelle as a result and had low expectations for this bottle. I am glad to say that I may have been wrong not to seek it out, as this was a lovely bottle, showing florals, red and black fruit and tapenade in the bouquet. Medium-bodied and nicely integrated on the palate as well. Balanced from start to finish. Tapenade, pepper, red fruit and spice flavors carrying through the finish. No reason to hold this in my opinion, as it is drinking very well right now.
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12/12/2013 - thelostverse wrote: 90 Points
Opened by Phil at the Praga offline with xhoser. Extremely dark with black fruit and plum.
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2/23/2013 - moudy wrote: 90 Points
Lately, I have been drinking the 09 Gigondas and it is probably unfair to compare this bottle to an 09. The fruit was there, but it was muted. The tannis were broken down and the wine was very smooth, but a bit bland.
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2/22/2013 - fredb Likes this wine:
Medium-dark red color with limited transparency throughout. Medium amount of sediment stuck to side of bottle with some in the punt at the end. Served without decanting. Aromas of cherry, earth, cooked plum, sweet olive, and a hint of anise. Palate shows polish with fully integrated tannins providing a frame for ripe cherry and cherry pie fruit filling that is joined by sweet olive, blueberry, and fennel notes that carry into a medium-short finish. Easy and ready to drink. Fruit dissipates on day 2, but still an interesting wine. Drink or hold.
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1/26/2013 - sfqwino wrote: 90 Points
Nice blend of herbs, Blue fruits, a little rusticity. Really well made given the vintage.
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1/8/2013 - pjaines wrote:
An interesting experience - given the freakish heat of the 2003 vintage I was expecting a gloop-fest but this aint too bad. To be fair this wine has managed to come out of the vintage in reasonable shape - starting to mature- ripe and slightly plummy, but with some southern French herbs. Aniseed and fennel coming through on the finish. The tannins and structure are struggling to keep up with the fruit and I'd be inclined to enjoy it while it is ripe and full. Wont make old bones, but with a decant this is pretty decent stuff for winter quaffing with fat, hearty stews.
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6/16/2012 - Mr T wrote:
my notes would be similar to grape juice on day 2...appearance was fine and served it chilled given the weather and outside....rich red fruits and a bit of heat...a nice drink and certainly not a 2003 mess by any means
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1/7/2012 - Sleepy Dave wrote: 89 Points
2012 - A brand new start with the gang: Alcohol :: 14.5%
Cloudy dark red with light brown rim. Popped and poured. Beautiful complex nose of kirsch, raspberry, red cherry intermixed with a touch of dark fruits, pepper, licorice, roasted herbs and mineral. Muscular on the palate but well defined. It immediately coated the mouth with high tannin and intensity. This does possess sufficient level of concentration and fruits for the balance but just at the moment the structured is dominated. Long spicy infused finish.
2nd day: Similar nose that is complex and intense. The structured has mellow down and tannin is well integrated. Smooth entry with very good mid palate depth and sappiness that formed by the delicious concentration of sweet red and dark fruits, a touch of spices and some woody tone. Finished is long and spicy, but also a touch of alcohol heat appeared.
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6/5/2011 - drwine2001 wrote:
One Year Anniversary Celebration (Heirloom Cafe, San Francisco): Magnum. Light ruby. Gorgeous raspberry fruit, spice and increasing garrigue over time. Yes, it has naturally sweet fruit, but in a style that is distinctly crisp and well honed for a 2003 due to outstanding acidity. Like the Hominis Fide tasted recently, this far exceeded my expectations and showed none of the roasted character of the vintage. This worked great with grilled beef and was simply delicious.
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5/31/2011 - koflaher wrote: 89 Points
Still drinking well. Elegant and well structured with notes of stone, earth, and currants. Well within drinking window, but showing some fading of the body and fruit. Medium red throughout, a little bricking around the edges.
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4/27/2011 - AtoZ wrote: 93 Points
Yummy. Much more ekegant than expected. With tangine @ss
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4/24/2011 - PaulH wrote: 90 Points
Should have read the other notes before opening this. Way too young, tannic and tight. I'm going to see if a few hours in a decanter will help.... It did. After four hours, things had moderated so that the tannins and fruit weren't sticking out as much and so obvious. Fairly restrained nose with noticeable lavender. This is a modern-styled wine, full of stuffing. Best to drink with strongly-flavored foods. I had it with a leg-of-lamb stuffed with lots of garlic. If you decant this, it is drinkable now, but I think it needs three years or so additional cellaring.
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2/14/2011 - KPB wrote: 87 Points
Past it's peak.
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1/16/2011 - Ive Marx wrote: 92 Points
Excellent for the vintage. Well-integrated now en good complexity.
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10/17/2010 - sfqwino wrote: 90 Points
Agreed with the other notes that this is too young. The raw materials were there, but they were just not well knitted together. Took a couple of decanting hours to quieten down the tannins a bit. Still I guess I shd have let this bottle sleep for another 2-3 years.
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7/5/2010 - Aromaroma wrote: 84 Points
very hot on opening, opened up after a few hours. Lots of intense red berry/plum fruit on the nose, great colour, starting to take on some brickishess at the rim. Still too young. quite tannic. Was better the next day after some oxidising.
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7/5/2010 - Aromaroma wrote: 84 Points
lots of fruit, high acid, very hot and still quite tannic. Still too young in my view and good age another couple of years
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3/9/2010 - baroloboy55 wrote: 87 Points
Lots of fruit, but I find the fruit and the toasty oak are still duking it out. Will the oak ultimately recede? I really enjoyed meeting Louis Barroul a few years back, but I feat this may not be my style
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3/6/2010 - KPB wrote: 90 Points
At its peak now, the 2003 Valbelle is a plum wine: on the nose, plum fruit (but also quite a noticable aroma of lavender, sweet oak, and then a musky tobacco note). The lavender is perhaps just a bit much, actually. Soft, low acidity, medium length finish, rather sweet, tannins supporting the fruit and giving structure. A good wine, perfect for spaghetti with meat sauce. Needs to be drunk; I hesitated about dropping down to 89 pts
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12/3/2009 - beatles wrote:
44Magnum (Chez moi): From MG.
Rather burnt and quite honestly off-putting, impossible to score. Even worse on day 2.
#44MG
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7/25/2009 - chbeaumont wrote: 94 Points
Powerful, oaky nose but the fruit is there to match; still tannic, quite a bit of new oak which is well judged, a mix of red & black fruit, flashy but no jamminess & alcohol not out of kilter. Not classic herby Gigondas, definitely in the modern style but not over the top. Well crafted, wth potential to improve. Needs 5 years to peak.
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5/25/2009 - FakeAccount wrote: 92 Points
Structured with a long life ahead of it. Keep them lying down for a couple more years.
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4/25/2009 - d'Artagnan wrote: 88 Points
Costaud et tannique à l’ouverture. Le bois sera malheureusement un élément présent tout au long de la dégustation sur deux ou trois heures. Avec deux heures, il s’intègre mieux et on trouve avec plaisir de la garrigue et du fruit rouge mais l’ensemble est encore bien tannique. Bonne concentration et texture assez agréable mais je crains qu’on ait trop poussé sur l’élevage et l’extraction. Trop jeune certainement. Peut-être que l’avenir me donnera tort dans 3 ou 5 ans. En attendant, je suis bien loin des notes enthousiastes de Parker et Tanzer. 88 pts
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1/26/2009 - wineaboutit wrote: 91 Points
Day 1: Popped and poured, this wine is big, rich..almost massive, first sip. After letting breath in glass for 30 minutes, this opened up a tad, a strong aroma of blackberry and raspberry, w/some spice. Full bodied and decadent, w/a long, creamy finish. Excellent. Day 2: The wine has opened up and softened, not quite as hedonistic, still very good. Have a couple more left, will decant for an hour or two, and consume on day 1, next time. Really good stuff.
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12/13/2008 - Terkel wrote: 92 Points
Mixed blindtasting (Finn's appartment): Dark red color with a bluish rim. Great nose with raspberry, strawberry, plums, pepper, spices, cinnamon and a bit of acetone. More brooding on the palate with notes of blueberry, blackcurrant and plums first, while switching to sweet licorice and dark chocolate on the midpalate, before finally showing some ink and chalk on the finish. Very powerful acidity and tannin. Way too young.
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11/11/2008 - fredb wrote:
Dark red color. Nose of red fruits, leather, olives, and black pepper. On the palate, the black olives and black pepper notes from the nose dominate with moderately aggressive tannins dominating the back half of the mid-palate and long finish. With time open in the bottle, the red fruit notes emerge with a cough-drop like sweetness (candied, slightly artificial and medicinally herbal). If the tannins can subside before the fruit does, this will be lovely. Hold for another 3-5 years. Resample in 2.
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9/24/2008 - Tejano wrote:
Dark rich purple and on opening a rustic light brett quality that over time became more fruit dominated showing some ripe dark fruit textures and a light earthy mineral backing. Very firm frame showing dusty, but tasty tannins and a lot of fruit and interesting layers that tended to be hemmed in by the framework. The fruit opened up over the evening, and then shut down after several hours. A lot of substance here for the long haul.
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8/29/2008 - koflaher wrote: 92 Points
Delicious, substantial wine. Minerals ('dirt') on the palate with base of dark fruits. Nice balance, elegance. Tried with a couple of non-rhone grenaches and it clearly stood out for its dpth and substance.
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12/24/2007 - kafka3 wrote: 91 Points
Great nose...earthy, organic, mushrooms...fruit of dark berries, plum, a touch of prune all consistent on the palate with a mouthfull of stoney dust. maybe a touch overripe, but the other, non-fruit characteristics are powerful enough to distract attention from fruit. medium finish. medium++ complexity.
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9/22/2007 - alexkhoo wrote:
Lovely nose of dark berries and spice. The palate is medium bodied, plush with blackberry, blueberry and ripe plums. Licorice, dried herbs and a dash of pepper. Good length on the finish with firm, chalky tannins. Very good but needs time to resolve some of the tannins.
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8/17/2007 - La Cave d'Argent wrote: 93 Points
Tasted in double-blind fashion at Vintage Wines, Ltd. The bottle was kindly provided by John Pollack. Deep ruby in color, this wine sports a very intense nose of blackberries, black plums, vanilla and exotic spices. Full-bodied on the palate, with low acidity and medium ripe tannins. The flavors are similar to the nose and the finish is long. Very nice!
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6/17/2007 - KPB wrote: 93 Points
Drinking even better than I remembered; primary fruit is still in the black raspberry/plum spectrum, with melted licorice, tobacco, lavender. Sweet, medium bodied, very rich and long. Great success for St. Cosme in this very difficult year!
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6/21/2006 - KPB wrote: 91 Points
Medium ruby. Dark aromas of ripe plums, licorice, garrigue, ripe red currents sitting in the sun, dust. Palate is sweet, saturated, rich, long; substantial acidity frames the wine. An outstanding Valbelle. Very dense, almost chewy. While I see mention of "surmaturite" in other community TNs, I find no evidence of overripeness or roasted fruit flavors or aromas here -- people worried about the 03 vintage won't have issues with this wine... a safe bet!
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11/24/2005 - Greg W wrote: 92 Points
Consumed from magnum. Big, open, fruity wine - lots of ripe berries. On the palate, very similar - ripe berries, chocolate - very concentrated fruit. Great, long finish. Drinking well tonight, but seems to have the structure to age as well.
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7/6/2005 - Patrick wrote:
Dark purple; big nose of plum, cassis, ripe ripe fruit; rich palate noticibly surmaturite presumably as a result of the vintage; very good but not representative of most Gigondas
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