This is a really interesting wine. As the story goes, Xavier Vignon is a Rhone producer who also consults. In his travels, he discovered this wine as it was sitting in a concrete tank with very low levels of oxygen. It is unclear who made the wine originally. It was bottle recently and released.
Great showing for this bottle at age 17. Purple in color with some ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is great with plums, black raspberries, worn leather, slight dried floral note and spice. Full bodied. Tannins mostly resolved. On the palate, this is deep and complex. Flavors of plums, raspberries with some spice. This bottle is clean with just a bare touch of funk. Nice finish. Seemingly at peak, these bottles probably should be consumed in the next five to seven years. Great on its own, this works better with food. Chili or beef stew would be a nice match.
This is in a lovely place right now. Deep ruby in color, mostly clear and bright. The nose is great with cherries, slight black cherries, violets, spices and just a hint of funk. Full bodied. Light tannins. Great energy and balance. On the palate, this is complex, layered and delicious. Cherries and black cherries with some char, spice and earthiness. Long finish. This is just about at peak right now and should be at this level for five to eight more years, but this will drink well for another five to ten after that. Great on its own, this will work
Whoa! Not a wine that shows up often, and its expensive, but this wine is amazing! 15.5% abv.
This is 95% Grenache. Ruby/purple in color, opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black cherries, cherries, char and floral notes. Medium to full bodied. Light tannins. Great texture. On the palate, this has lovely black cherry fruit, some cherries and spice. Nice finish. This seems to be about at peak at this point. It should drink well for another five to eight years, but won't get better. Nice on its own, this will be better with food. A nice wine with beef stew.
From the late Phillipe Cambie, this is 100% destemmed Grenache. Purple in color with ruby swirls, mostly opaque and bright. The nose is nice with black raspberries, black cherries, graphite, spices and roasted meat. Full bodied. Light tannins. On the palate, black cherries with great minerality. Not as big a wine as one might expect from Cambie. Deep. Delicious. Nice finish. Drink over the next ten years. Nice on its own, but better with food. This would work well with fried chicken.
Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright. The nose is nice with plums, black pepper, and black cherries. Full bodied. Lovely texture. On the palate, plums and cherries with slight char. Clean. Good balance. Long finish. This is young and showing ripe fruit. It is drinking well but may improve with a few more years of cellaring. Drink over the next ten to twelve years. it will work well with braised meats.
This is a blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise, and the rest is the other permitted varietals. At age 22, it is showing some age and a bit past prime. This bottle had been bought on release and well cellared. Ruby/brown in color, clear and bright. The nose has cherries, dried cherries, soy/umami, and spice. Medium bodied. There are some drying tannins left. Better on the palate. Complex with layers of dried and fresh cherries. Good balance. Nice finish.
This is a blend of 70% old Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah, 5% other allowed grapes. Purple in color, ruby at the rim, opaque and bright. It was interesting to drink this side by side with the Gigondas. The CdP is a much bigger and more complex wine (and more expensive). The nose has black cherries, cherries, spice, smoke and black pepper. Medium to full bodied. Good balance. On the palate, this is delicious. Open and drinking well but with depth and complexity. Flavors of black cherries, plums and spice with light tannins. This is drinking well on its own and will work well wi
This wine was bought on release and is exactly where it should be at age 21. Deep ruby in color with just a bit of browning at the edges. Clear and bright. The wine initially has some bottle funk but that blows of to reveal a classic CdP nose. Cherries, spice, slight barnyard, a bit of dried cherries and roasted herbs. Medium to full bodied. Great energy and balance. on the palate, this is complex and layered. Cherries, fresh and dried, earthiness and char. Nice balance. Good finish. This is fully mature and probably needs to be drunk soon as it starts to fade. Still, another fi
