Tasted this side by side with the extended ageing slightly preferring the extended ageing. This is a blend of 44% Mourvedre, 36% Grenache and 20% Counoise. Purple in color with ruby at the rim, opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black raspberries, slight plums, gravel and spice. Full bodied.
This is their top of the line wine. It is a blend of 60% Mourvedre, 20% Grenache, 10% Counoise, and 10% Syrah.
Great showing for this top Châteauneuf-du Pape! Served side by side with Hommage a Perrin, it held its own. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is clean with plums, black cherries, slight balsamic, some spice and slight meatiness. Medium to full bodied. Great texture. On the palate, this is fresh and vibrant but pretty much at peak although with years left. This release as some variability, but well stored bottles should easily go another decade or more. It drinks great on its own, this worked very well with Indian food.
This is a very modern, big take on Spanish wine. A blend of 70% Monastrell and 30% Cabernet Sauvignon, this is also delicious. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose has black cherries, plums, cassis, smoke and spice. Full bodied. Firm tannins. On the palate, the red fruits come thru with a base of charred wood. Long finish. This is still young and likely to continue to improve for another five to ten years. It should drink for twelve to fifteen more after that. Right now it will over power most foods and drinks better on its own. With some bottle age it will work well with
This wine was made as an homage to Lucien Peyraud, the legendary winemaker for Domaine Tempier who helped establish the Bandol AOC.
This is 100% Mourvedre according to the back label. Gorgeous wine but I am very partial to Mourvedre wines. Purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is great with black raspberries, slight plums, spice, black pepper and char. Full bodied. On the palate, this needs some air to open fully. Lots of black raspberry fruit over and earthy and smoky base. Great liveliness. Good acidity. Light tannins. Long finish. This may still improve a bit but no harm drinking now and over the next twelve to fifteen years. Great on its own, this would work well with Indian foods or most stews.
A friend of mine stopped by with a bottle. My first reaction was that it was too young, so I was going to open an older bottle and then accidently opened this. Glad I did. While this will probably shut down, it was great. Deep garnet in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is clean with black cherry fruit along with roasted meats, smoke/char and a slight floral note. Full bodied. On the pallet, this is drinking great. Delicious. Black raspberry fruit over char. Clean (how long has it been since this was an issue at Beaucastel?). Nice finish. Obviously young with silky tanni
This is a blend of 77% Mourvedre, 19% Grenache and 4% Counoise.
This is another project from Elaine and Manfred Krankl. Very impressive wine. It is a blend of 53% Mourvèdre, 16% Syrah, 14% Grenache, 9% Petit Sirah, 6% Graciano and 2% Viognier. It comes in a very cool shaped bottle and label, which by the way lists the alcohol at 15.8%. Inky purple in color. The nose has black cherries, black raspberries, some char, plums and mint. What a wonderful texture. Its is big yet dances on the palate with energy. Delicious. The black fruits come thru to the palate but there is an ash quality that is very interesting too. A long finish. This is drink
This is drinking very well these days. It is a blend of 82% Syrah and 18% Mourvèdre. Inky purple in color. The nose is great with black raspberries, roasted meats, slight violets and a bit of earthiness. Full bodied. On the palate, this has a lush structure. Juicy black raspberry fruit over a bit of smoke and earth. Nice energy. Long finish. This may still improve a bit. It will make great drinking over the next ten to twelve years. A nice match for ribs on the grill or roasted veggies.
