Last night one of my tasting groups was treated to a fantastic line-up of 8 vintages of Pegau's Cuvée Réservée. I did not take detailed notes, but the wines were quite striking, and it's not hard to keep track of what was what. All the wines were served blind with rather jumbled decanting times, so please don't ask about that. Apparently Laurence Ferraud was consulted by e-mail for appropriate decanting times.
We started with a 2001 Keller Dalsheimer Hubacker Riesling Spatlese that was rather unbalanced to the sweet side. It was definitely cloying even when it was quite cold.
For the Pegau, in the order of service, the first four wines were served with Osso Bucco:
The 1995 was actually quite nice on its own, but got trounced by the rest of the competition. It was much more of a finesse wine while also being rather rustic which made for an odd combination. The fruit seemed to be drying out a bit here. Check in on this if you have it.
The 1999 Second Release was the most forward of the first four wines, and the only one of the first four that could compete with the second batch of four. Lots of kirsch here with plenty of leather and earth as well, but really the dominant note is fruit. This can be drunk now for easy pleasure or held.
The 1999 First Release also showed well, but it had more of a dusty character, with more earthy notes that its second release brother. This is a wine that I would drink now while I waited for some of the later wines to reach their prime.
The 1994 was the most mature in a good way (the 1995 seemed prematurely mature) with a fully integrated and mellowing character. Lots of saddle leather and herbs here. Still some good fruit, but this is becoming more of a joy to just smell. Drink 'em if you've got 'em - you won't regret it.
The second four wines were served with a Moroccan Lamb Stew and Hubbard Squash:
The 1998 started me thinking that we had moved from regular CNdP cuvees to top of the line super-cuvees (but of course we had not). THis had about double the concentration of most of the first flight (the exception being the '99 Second release) while also being impeccably balanced. My wine of the night; it has tons of fruit and all the balancing structure to age for a long time yet. This is anotehr '98 that is nowhere near mature much less going downhill.
The 2003 is one of those rare exceptions to the 2003 gnarlies. Yes it's a big wine, but it's not hot, no more roasted than any other ripe vintages of CNdP and it's not 'porty.' It's rich, fruity and balanced, but I still prefer the '98. The one odd thing was that this wine started with a butterscotch note. It did disappate though, leaving pure CNdP. This should evolve wonderfully.
The 2000 had a puzzling showing, being either slightly closed, or potentially with some bottle flaw (minor cork?). It didn't have the harmony of the other vintages, and since I had it only a few weeks ago and it was spectacular (and very young) I'll reserve judgement on this bottle.
The 2004 finished things off with a flourish, with tons of ripe fruit and baby fat. Somewhere under all that fruit it was recognizable as CNdP, but wow it's just so rich (and balanced!) right now. Looks like another candidate for either guilty pleasure drinking now or cellaring for a long, long time.
There was a lot to like in this tasting. Thanks Doug for the wines and the food. After doing Beaucastel 10 days ago and Pegau last night I am fully into a Chateauneuf phase for winter.