Châteauneuf-du-Pape

From the ripe vintage of 2007, this bottling got just average scored from Robert Parker/ The Wine Advocate.  It is easy to see why, but that is not a reflection on quality as much as style.  This bottling was quite enjoyable but certainly an outlier from the traditional Châteauneufs.   A blend of 55% Grenache, 35% Syrah, and 10% Mourvedre. Ruby in color, clear and bright.  The nose has lovely cherries with some strawberries with a hint of dried flowers and spices.  Medium bodied.  On the palate, this is elegant and lighter.  Charming might be a good descriptor.  Cherries, with slight cranbe

This is yet another example of why to buy top producers in less than top vintages.  At age 17, this was drinking amazingly well.  Purple in color with ruby swirls and ruby at the rim, mostly clear and bright.  What a nose.  Black cherries, leather, slight earthiness/barnyard and even a hint of floral.  Full bodied.  Lush texture.  On the palate, this is delicious and complex.  Layers of black cherries, earth and spice.  Great balance.  Long finish.  The would appear to be at peak, so I would drink sooner than later but it should drink well for another ten to twelve years as it moves past pe

The basic Châteauneuf from this producer from a very HOT vintage.  Truthfully, I was surprised to find this in the cellar and wasn't sure it would have held up.  Wrong.  It drank great.  Perhaps not the complexity of other vintages, but lots of delicious fruit made for a very nice drink.  Purple in color, opaque and bright.  The nose offers up plums, black cherries, some spice, and a bit of black olive.  Medium bodied.  Tannins all resolved.  Full bodied, smooth texture.  On the palate, plums, cherries and black cherries with slight char.  Nice finish.  This needs to be consumed sooner than

Always one of my favorite wines from the Châteauneuf.  They have a more elegant style.  Deep garnet in color, clear and bright.  The nose has cherries, garrique, licorice, and meaty notes.  Full bodied.  On the palate, this is complex and also delicious.  Cherries, black cherries with underlying earthiness and some pepper.  Long finish.  This drinks well alone but really deserves a nice meal, perhaps some meaty stew.  This bottle seemed at peak at age 20 but could go another five years at this level.  

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.  

Nice showing for this wine as it seems to be just getting close to maturity.  It is a blend of 30% Mourvèdre, 30% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Counoise with the rest made up of the other 9 permitted varietals in Châteauneuf.  Purple in color with ruby swirls.  The nose is great with black cherries, raspberries, plums, roasted meats, slight earthiness and a hint of violets.  Full bodied.  Complex.  On the palate, light tannins.  Plums, black cherries, cherries with underlying earthiness. Clean.  This should drink well for another twelve to fifteen years.  A nice match for beef stew.  

This was drinking great, at or close to mature peak.  Ruby/purple, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is classic Pegau, that is, barnyard.  Approaching the limits of Brett tolerance.  Also some black cherries and slight spice.  Medium to full bodied.  On the palate, the Brett is present but not as noticeable.  Fresh cherries and black cherries with some spice.  Complex and layered.  Delicious and contemplative.  Long finish.  drink these over the next four to seven years if well stored.  This drinks great on its own but would work great with lamb stew.  

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

Another great vintage in the southern Rhone valley in France.  Deep garnet in color, mostly clear and bright.  The nose is nice with cherries, black cherries, slight anise and floral notes (Violets?).  Medium bodied.  On the palate, the cherries and dark cherries come thru with underlying spices and roasted herbs.  Nice texture.  Good balance.  Nice finish.  This is drinking well now and should continue to do so for the next seven to ten years.  It drinks well on its own but will work better with foods.  Ribs off the grill would be a nice choice.