2012 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (3/25/2017)
This is the entry level Clos St.Jean, with “The Big Man,” Philippe Cambie, as the winemaker. I first had the 2005 vintage of this wine about 8 years ago in DC when I was there for a conference and my uncle was unable to meet me for dinner because he was going to a wine dinner. He arranged for me to attend, and it turned out to be Cambie and Vincent Maurel, the owner, pouring their entire lineup. I was not a fan of the 2005 vintage of this wine,especially compared to the La Combe des Fou and Deus ex Machina of the same vintage. The intervening seven years have been put to good use. The base cuvee is now quite excellent, and the higher level wines are probably even better.
Popped, decanted and poured - disappeared quickly among three of us, so not followed for more than perhaps 45 minutes. A very smooth and approachable mixture of herbal earthiness and a raspberry backbone. Very easy to drink. I think it will blossom with even more fruit, but it is quite good now. The modern techniques that Cambie uses make the wine approachable young while backing enough punch to last a long time.
When I first met Cambie, I commented to him after dinner that I had heard he was known as the Michel Rolland of Chateauneuf. He responded, in his thick French accent, “Non, non, Monsieur, Michel Rolland is the Philippe Cambie of Bordeaux.” (91 pts.)
How quaint, so humble, they each want to be known more than the wines they concoct!
Now that said, if you like this style, these are one heck of a value. My dad loves it. Heck, drop the beard, and Hack, you could be him. Except, he’s a diehard Dolphin fan.
I’m no fan of Cambie wines, but the couple of times I talked to him, he seemed a perfectly nice guy. I take what he said to Jay as a perfectly appropriate joke. On the other hand Jay’s mistake about his role–he is the oenologue at Clos St. Jean, not the winemaker–is not one he ever seeks to avoid.
The 2005 Deus ex Machina was one of the greatest young wines I have ever had. It was an interesting evening. Roger Schagrin, who I understand used to be the chief lobbyist for a company like US Steel, was the host and provided all the wines. The guests were assorted people from DC, but mostly what we would call civilians. When most of the guests had left, there were a dozen half finished bottles on the table. I walked over and found a bottle of the Deus ex Machina. I walked back to my seat, which happened to be next to our host. I was about to pour some for myself, changed my mind, turned to him and said, “thanks for a great evening, you deserve this” and handed the bottle to him. I went back to the table and got a bottle of Les Combe des Fou, no slouch in its own right. We sat there with my uncle and we finished them off. Delicious wines.
It sounded like this was the tasting in the backroom of a downtown Belgium restaurant some years ago. I was at that one, but it was put on by the winery’s then importer, Peter Weygandt, as I remember. Maybe this was a different one. That would make a number of times Cambie and the Maurels were in DC.
