WTN: 00 Lazaret and 01 Boursan

[Jenise]

The Southern Rhone romance continues. I selected these to serve to guests on Sunday night with chanterelle stuffed capon.

2001 Domaine Bois de Boursan, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Medium red color with a cloudy orange hue. Faint brett aromas intermingle with raspberry and tons of black pepper. Rustic textures with raspberry fruit, pie spices and a bit of leather on the midpalate; sweet and spicy finish. Tannins seem fairly resolved, and the wine overall seems a bit further along in development than I would have expected, but the wine is by no means disappointing. Between this and the next wine, it's the complexity of this wine that impresses.

2000 Doimaine du Vieux Lazaret Cuvee Exceptionelle, Châteneuf-du-Pape
Very youthful color. Very toned and polished with taut, darker fruit than the Boursan--you might call it boysenberry--and still very present tannins. Quite a bit more monotone in profile, but then the wine simply wasn't in the 'ready' state the Boursan was in any way. I have another bottle which I'll hold at least three more years or until someone else sends up the 'all-clear' flag.

Jenise-
It has been a few years since I've tasted the 2001 Boursan and at that time I remarked that it was shut down and I should hold them for at least another 5+ years. The color you noted seems like something was amiss with this bottle. Based upon my experience with this producer it would be unlikely to be "advanced" at age 7, but there always are surprises.
All FWIW.
Bill

[Jenise]

It has been a few years since I've tasted the 2001 Boursan and at that time I remarked that it was shut down and I should hold them for at least another 5+ years. The color you noted seems like something was amiss with this bottle. Based upon my experience with this producer it would be unlikely to be "advanced" at age 7, but there always are surprises.
All FWIW.
Bill

My words were probably misleading. I didn't find the wine flawed in any way--it was lovely--it was just a bit further along than I would have expected for an 01, especially after the firm and youthful Lazaret. Lemme check other's experiences on Cellar Tracker--I'll report back shortly.

[Jenise]

Bill, here are three notes. Clearly my wine was more advanced than the third person's bottle, but not badly so. More like a wine that had been stored at 70F vs. 55F. Should be a good clue to where your bottle(s) are currently.

2001 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape) 4/8/2008 Anonymous
ahhh, comfortable like an old pair of shoes! earthy, cherry, black olives. nice. not overpowering, but wonderful weight, multi-layered and good spicy finish. now we're talkin'.

2001 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape) 3/16/2008 Anonymous
Bretty, spicy, held up well on second day- better in fact.

2001 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape) 2/2/2008 HurrahSyrah 91
Popped and poured (consumed over 2 hours). This wine exhibited a dark garnet color. On the nose, aromas of black cherries, plums and blackberries were joined by notes of earthiness, spice, cedar and black pepper. On the palate, dried dark fruit flavors were joined by notes of spice, earth and roasted meat. This wine kept on evolving as the night wore on and still has plenty of life in it as exhibited by the acidity. Nice complement to my chipotle mushroom burger. HS91