2009 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2009
Score: 
95
Grade: 
A

Purple, ruby at the rim.  The nose has cherries, black cherries, anise, spice and slight floral notes.  Full bodied.  Excellent balance.  Cherries, dark cherries, spice and slight earthiness on the palate.  Drinking quite fresh.  Good energy.  Opens up with air.  Pretty close to peak but should stay there for 8 years at least.  It will gain in complexity but lose some of the freshness.  More fruit forward in style for CdP.  Great wine.  

2007 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Prestige, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2007
Score: 
93
Grade: 
A

Ruby/purple in color.  The nose has black cherries, spice, black raspberries, violets and bacon.  On the palate, this is mature and complex.  Layered, it unwinds in the glass.  Black cherry fruit, black raspberries, some earthiness and spice.  Nice texture.  Wispy tannins.  Good balance.  Long finish.  No hurry, but I don't think it improves from here.  

2012 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines, France, Rhone, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2012
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A-

Purple in color.  The nose is nice enough if a bit under ripe.  Cherries, green herbs (tarragon), slight violet notes.  On the palate, this is old school CdP.  Cherries, dark cherries, slight earthiness.  Tight but layered.  Medium tannins.  Nice finish.  Drinking well now and should be good to go for a decade.  

2007 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Vintage: 
2007
Score: 
91
Grade: 
A-

Ruby in color, purple at the core.  The nose has cherries, slight mushrooms and slight pine needles.  On the palate, plenty of cherry fruit.  Depth and complexity as it unwinds in the glass.  Perhaps a bit more advanced than expected (more for the producer than the vintage) but drinking very well right now.  I would drink in the next 3 to 5 years though.  

2010 Saxum James Berry Vineyard, USA, California, Central Coast, Paso Robles, Wine Review

Vintage: 
2010
Score: 
96
Grade: 
A

Always a star.  This is is still young.  This bottle was opened at 9:00 am and served at 11:00 pm.  It was served with dessert; a bittersweet chocolate tart and it worked wonderfully.  Inky purple in color.  The nose has chocolate covered cherries, black raspberries, slight floral qualities and spice.  On the palate, this has a lively quality to it.  Juicy acidity. Lush.  This is a big wine but smooth with no signs of alcohol.  Delicious.  Ripe but not overtly or sweet.  Long finish.  Upside for sure and development.  No harm in drinking now but will continue to evolve for a while.  

Rhone Valley & Spanish Rhone-style Wines Tasted at the 2008 Hospice du Rhone Events

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we reported on American Rhone-style wines we tasted at the 16th annual Hospice du Rhone events in Paso Robles, California from May 1 to 3, 2008. We noted that this event was an opportunity to consider Rhone-style wines from a fresh perspective because, unlike most tasting opportunities, these events included Rhone-style wines from the Rhone Valley itself (51 wineries), elsewhere in France (4 wineries) as well as from Spain (4 wineries), Australia (17 wineries), South Africa (6 wineries), Chile (2 wineries), Argentina (1 winery) and the United States. While this was a California-dominated event, and while many of the Rhone Valley’s best producers weren’t represented, there was still sufficient European and other entries to make for interesting comparisons and contrasts.
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America’s Best Rhone Style Red Wines: 11th Annual Rhone Rangers Tasting Reviewed

The Rhone Report: About Rhone and Rhone-Style Wines and Winemakers is part of an ongoing series. Last month we discussed the white Rhone style wines offered at the 2008 Rhone Rangers tasting event at Fort Mason in San Francisco on March 18. This month we turn to the reds, of which we tasted 50. Among those we tasted were some old favorites and some wineries or bottlings with which we were not yet familiar. We don’t pretend that we tasted a representative group of wines, because our sample was skewed to wines we have loved in the past and others about which we have heard positive comments.
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