WTN: 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape blind tasting

[David M. Bueker]

Last night at Jeff's house we sampled 8 2001 Chateauneuf's blind. It was clear from wine 1 that we were drinking Southern Rhones (though I was certain 1 was a fantastic Gigondas...), and the quality was very high, with only 1 glaring disappointment.

Wine #1: Kirsch, warm earth, herbs and a little bit of alcohol poking out on the nose. Very primary and well balanced on the palate. Very fruity - needs time. 2001 Clos des Papes

Wine #2: Cracked black pepper, macerated raspberries & blueberries, milk chocolate & a touch of VA. Is there some oak influence here as well? Very tasty, but little back bone. 2001 Tardieu-Laurent Vieilles Vignes

Wine #3: Herbs, earth & bright cherry fruit. It's a bit thinner on the palate than either #1 or #2, but drinks very well. 2001 Les Cailloux

Wine #4: Some VA, earthy funk and dark cherries. It's hot on the palate and not enjoyable. Rather pruney in its fruit. I do not like this at all. Very disappointing to find out it's the 2001 Usseglio Cuvée Mon Aieul

Wine #5: I was almost certain this was the greatest Gigondas I had ever tasted. The level of rich rosemary and and bright fruit were stunning. Earthy as well this had length and depth for two wines. Well of course it was indeed a Chateauneuf, and a darling of the internet, the 2001 Pégaü Cuvée Réservée. Amazing wine that is so much fun to drink now, but has balance and stuffing to age. Consensus wine of the night!

Wine #6: This seems closed down. There's warm earth and not much else. Maybe a hint of VA comes in & I am getting little else. I have no idea how to really assess this wine. 2001 Pégaü Cuvée Laurence. I have now had this wine 3 times with one stunning showing & two relative (or total) disappointments. Weird.

Wine #7: The most primary wine of the night. This is a bowl of ripe raspberries. It's just a mass of fruit & resembles a barrel sample more than anything else. I think there's a lot of potential here. 2001 Beaucastel

Wine #8: A little earthy funk on the nose, plus some cherry fruit & a touch of VA. It's the most roasted of any wine in the tasting. Not nearly as rich as the Beaucastel (no shock there), but it drinks well now. 2001 Mont Redon

A most instructive tasting. That darn Pégaü Cuvée Réservée is one amazing wine.

Nice notes. Our group which tastes a range of CndP 2000s annually finds a lot of bottle variation. Sounds as if there is some of that with these 2001s; Cuvée Laurence and perhaps Usseglio. TCA is not the natural cork's only failing.

[David M. Bueker]

I am not ruling out heat damage on the Mon Aieul.

Pegau rocks. I'm biased because that's the wine that drew me into CdP, but I absolutely love it and I've tasted very few red wines that thrill me as much with their aromatic profile alone.

Re. the Mon Aieul - interesting you bring up the heat/pruniness - I had the 03 of that some time back, and found it a little similar. That had been tasted blind (from the cellar of someone with very good provenance), and I found it rather underwhelming with the roasted/pruney character really putting me off.

Nice notes, David (and interesting wines, too). I am heartened to hear about the showing of the '01 Pegau Reservee as I have recently negociated a trade of two bottles of the '00 for two of the '01 (backstory: I ordered 3 bottles of the '01 shortly after release at a J et R tasting, but the order was mistakenly filled with '00s, an error that I only discovered well after delivery and a wine that I already possessed).

Mark Lipton

Wine #4: Some VA, earthy funk and dark cherries. It's hot on the palate and not enjoyable. Rather pruney in its fruit. I do not like this at all. Very disappointing to find out it's the 2001 Usseglio Cuvée Mon Aieul

I noticed the same thing on the 1999 I had: dark, hot, prunes. I have 1 more that I am hoping to heck resolves some of this, but by my reckoning it could make me a Keynesian (ie, in the long run, we will all be dead)

Wine #5: I was almost certain this was the greatest Gigondas I had ever tasted. The level of rich rosemary and and bright fruit were stunning. Earthy as well this had length and depth for two wines. Well of course it was indeed a Chateauneuf, and a darling of the internet, the 2001 Pégaü Cuvée Réservée. Amazing wine that is so much fun to drink now, but has balance and stuffing to age. Consensus wine of the night!

Well, Gigondas is mostly grenache too!

Wine #6: This seems closed down. There's warm earth and not much else. Maybe a hint of VA comes in & I am getting little else. I have no idea how to really assess this wine. 2001 Pégaü Cuvée Laurence. I have now had this wine 3 times with one stunning showing & two relative (or total) disappointments. Weird.

These are always such different beasts than the Reserve bottlings. I like them in their own way, as it reminds me of an older Chateauneuf, before the Parker scores took over.

Sounds like a fun night!

[David M. Bueker]

Post script - I am drinking the 2001 Janasse Cuvee Chaupin CNdP tonight - it's just as delicious as some of the other wines I had last night & in the same fruity, herbal and structured vein.

I love 2001 Chateauneuf.