WTN: Chateauneufs 2000 - 2005

Notes from a blind tasting of Chateauneuf de Papes from the 2000 vintage and later.

2005 Vieux Telegraphe blanc – funny, I had the 2006 a couple of weeks ago. This one showed its origins more plainly. Some colour, tropical fruit notes decent fruit on palate and well balanced. Shame about the prices.

2001 Chante Perdrix – quite a rich cocoa nose from a fairly dark wine, tasty, forward and slightly hot. I thought the nose pleasant but atypical. I have a bunch of this but haven’t got into it yet. With time the nose may become more typical.

2003 Pierre Useglio (regular cuvee) – cherry and leather in this Grenache dominated wine’s nose. It also had a bit of heat, good fruit and drinks well now. Smooth.

2000 Vieux Donjon – dark with a spicy peppery nose with the first of what I’d characterize as garrigue. After some time in the glass the wine the nose changed to a dustier almost chalky version, though still with the pepper. This also drinks quite well today but there is no rush. Wish I’d loaded up a bit more, but I’d already stashed a couple of cases of the really excellent 1998, so must have given in to a completely uncharacteristic bout of fiscal sensibility when this one hit the stores.

2000 Vieux Telegraphe La Crau – sweet anise in the nose as well as a hint of Rhone funkiness, but mostly it showed sweet in the nose and even sweeter on palate. No rush but good now.

2001 Pegau – dark with a serious stinky peppery Rhone nose (the horse was put away wet after a long ride), but also reminding me of a leg of lamb with herbs de Provence and garlic, full body, amazingly smooth and ready and far better than the last bottle we had which must have been heat damaged at some point.

2001 Dom. La Milliere Cuvee Unique – a new one on me, but that isn’t surprising given the array of small producers out there. Slightly stinky nose, an harmonious wine that picked up more fruit in the nose as it opened, but old style with some of the animal elements that added interest.

2000 Pegau – fun to be able to compare two vintages. Dark with more tannin than the 2001, and a slightly less funky nose, but still showing the Provencal panoply of aromas, becoming more peppery as the wine opened. It struck me as a more modern style, very pleasant and well structured with a long life ahead.

This was held at a Southern French bistro with food to match and we all crawled home full and happy. Some pics at http://s454.photobucket.com/albums/qq27 ... 20Offline/

Hello Bill. Was the '01 Pegau the Reservee? I had that a few years ago: Gorgeous, gorgeous wine.

Hello Bill. Was the '01 Pegau the Reservee? I had that a few years ago: Gorgeous, gorgeous wine.

Yes. I think that they only do 3 now - reservee, Capo and Laurence.

Hello Bill. Was the '01 Pegau the Reservee? I had that a few years ago: Gorgeous, gorgeous wine.

Yes. I think that they only do 3 now - reservee, Capo and Laurence.

Haven't heard of the Laurence. Is that supposed to be a 'better' bottling than the Capo?

Haven't heard of the Laurence. Is that supposed to be a 'better' bottling than the Capo?

Not at all. It gets more wood early on and as a result usually drinks a bit earlier than the others. The Capo is something they make when it pleases them - and apparently get ticked off by everyone trying to buy it before they release it.

[Jenise]

A great night for my Southern Rhone education!

2005 Vieux Telegraphe blanc Pineapple and green tomato fruit with a hint of basil. Bold in flavor and big bodied. Excellent. .

Flight A:

2001 Chante Perdrix – Darker and denser than it's flight mate below. Big with quite a bit of structure, and the mourvedre element shows. Very good and has strong potential, but it's a bit awkward at this age.

2003 Pierre Usseglio regular cuvee Warm, sweet grenache nose and generous on the palate. Very California in style with a little heat on the finish. Drinks well now. Good.

Flight B:

The following two were my favorite flight, both wines showed exceptionally well and I would have a hard time choosing which wine I enjoyed more.

2000 Vieux Donjon – Dark with an exotically spicey nose that, with time in the glass, had to make way for a chalky, limestone dust minerality. Lots of pepper on the palate which developed a bit of metal and raisin. Fascinating wine that kept changing. Why in the heck don't I buy Donjon? Every single bottle I've ever had has cast a spell on me. Excellent.

2000 Vieux Telegraphe La Crau – has a right bank kind of floral sweetness in the nose and the palate also showed elegant and Bordeauxish. None of the rusticity or chunkiness of old-fashioned CdP here at all, but not disappointing in the slightest. Excellent.

Flight C:

2001 Pegau – Mildly bretty nose with spice, barnyard, blood, roasted meat and earl gray tea. Beautiful body and delineation.

2001 Dom. La Milliere Cuvee Unique – Ah, a really old fashioned type here. Sweaty horse blanket, spice, sagebrush and muted black raspberry fruit, very into secdondary development with animale and rustic nuances, much more so than it was last October. I purchased this at auction but have since seen the wine for sale here in my small town, and I know Parker covers it, so it's kind of a nice surprise that my Canadian pals aren't familiar with this producer (it's fun to surprise them, I don't get that chance often especially with Euro wines). Very good.

2000 Pegau – With the Milliere cleverly sandwiched inbetween the two, no one recognized this wine as being the older brother of the first Pegau. Nose of chopped parsley, to borrow David N's most excellent term, and in a clean and modern style. Built to last.

2001 Dom. La Milliere Cuvee Unique – Ah, a really old fashioned type here. Sweaty horse blanket, spice, sagebrush and muted black raspberry fruit, very into secdondary development with animale and rustic nuances, much more so than it was last October. I purchased this at auction but have since seen the wine for sale here in my small town, and I know Parker covers it, so it's kind of a nice surprise that my Canadian pals aren't familiar with this producer (it's fun to surprise them, I don't get that chance often especially with Euro wines). Very good.

Not really surprising. When you live in a state run monopoly, it isn't as easy to bring in whatever an agent might wish - you need to get liquor board approval if you want space on the shelves of the government stores. Of course you CAN bring a product in as a 'spec' item, but then you have to hand-sell it to restaurants etc.

There are tons of CNduPs made, and we get a fraction of what is available in France. Heck, I found houses there that the owners told me never exported to anywhere - their precise answer was "Why would we?" Every bottle they made went to restaurants in Paris or Lyon.

[Jenise]

When you live in a state run monopoly, it isn't as easy to bring in whatever an agent might wish - you need to get liquor board approval if you want space on the shelves of the government stores.

Well, of course, but my observation is that between your proximity to our border and being hedonistically-inclined overpaid globetrotting liberals, you guys have managed to get your mits on almost every wine worth drinking.

Well, of course, but my observation is that between your proximity to our border and being hedonistically-inclined overpaid globetrotting liberals, you guys have managed to get your mits on almost every wine worth drinking.

Frankly (and I don't want to go political on this) some of us, myself definitely included, have become much less inclined to cross the border for any purpose since the changes in attitude and procedure since 911. But that's another story best left to the Friends and Fun forum. I have done about zero buying in the US in the last few years and have been down there less than once a year despite being a director of a foundation in Seattle.

[Jenise]

Bill, I can't speak to your experience or defend my country's reactively ambitious attempt to protect it's borders, but I think you'd find things a lot different nowadays. I've seen quite a relaxation in attitude--on both sides, mind you--in the five years I've been here.