“The longtime winemaker of this estate, grandfather of the current proprietors, passed away shortly after making the 1972 vintage. His sons were so respectful of this final wine made by their father that they could not get themselves to put it into bottle. The wine was left in concrete tank. For over 45 years it sat, untouched. The sons have now all retired and the grandchildren are in charge. They are uncertain as to what to do with the estate and have decided to sell off some of the old cuvees. They allowed Xavier to taste the 1972. He bought the entire tank. Xavier bottled the wine just a few weeks ago…”
I’m curious if anyone knows anything more about this story. Anyone happen to get hold of any?
I bought a case of this as well, havent seen any tasting notes yet but I’m really keen to find out if its good or not. Not taken delivery yet.
I’ve not done exhaustive research by any means, but I’ve managed to readily find two Chateauneuf vintners who died in the 70s. Jacques Perrin of Beaucastel died in 1978, and Etienne Gonnet died in 1974.
If you think about how long wine spends in barrel, it feels to me like Etienne Gonnet seems a plausible option. The vineyard went into his son’s hands, and its now in their son’s hands - that ties with the explanation from Xavier.
Looking forward to trying a bottle in the next few months. Will update when I do.
Aye - I will - I’m probably a couple of months away from trying it still, but if its any good I’ll make sure I buy as much as I can before I do post my note
Be interested to know if Gonnet has any links to Xavier, and if they used concrete in the 1970s. If so, then it feels quite likely. Pricing is also broadly in line with some of their more expensive wines now, I cant imagine a nice Beaucastel at 50 years old would be released at that price, to be honest.
I’d love to get some more expert opinions on what 50 years in concrete does to a wine - I’d naively guess (as no expert) it reduces the amount of oxidation and makes it a bit more static - presumably something oaked for 50 years would have been practically undrinkable, at the very least for a long time (and with substantial losses to the angels share)? But I also assume it doesnt make the wine entirely ‘frozen’ at a point in time?
I only bought two bottles — I wasn’t ready to bet that much on something that kind of felt like a scam. I’m going to need to plan a meal around one of these.
I’m gonna end up popping one before you probably! It seemed like a fairly unique offering. Dont think there’s any scam - i got mine from a reputable UK merchant and its proper Xavier!
Its probably “not” a GBP 90/bottle chateauneuf but when else are you gonna get a 1972 chateauneuf?
I picked up my single bottle and drank it Friday. I wasn’t going to risk buying more on a whim and now wish I had bought a couple more.
Popped and poured, 'cause how do you decide on a decant? A tad disjointed at first, a bit disappointing. After 30 minutes it started to come together and after an hour was a well balanced, great drinking wine.
The main descriptor I can think of for the wine is “Timeless.” If I was guessing blind I’d have said 10-15 years. If you told be 5 or 20 years, I’d say OK. Not nearly 50. Still some well integrated tannin. Good acid. Aging in tank seems to be quite different than 50 years in oak.
Thanks for the note. I kind of figured 50 years in concrete could be quite interesting. With an hour of decanting sounds promising to me for keeping for a few years - Xaviers recommendation was to buy a case and drink a bottle a year
The buyer I spoke to tasted at a trade show in NY back in March. He said he wouldn’t decant it but see how it evolves over an hour or more. Said there was some bricking but was surprisingly youthful. He felt like it was unlikely to evolve in the bottle but who knows? Certainly an interesting story and telling it to friends over a meal would be fun. Probably worth the price of admission.
It seems really strange that they would leave a wine for that many years in a tank, when there isn’t some kind of cellar history/plan for doing that. I’d understand better if it was a Spanish bodega with that biz plan - look at the 1986 Murrieta blanco that was recently released.
FWIW my tasting group had a bottle last week (I was on vacation so I did not attend), consensus was that it seemed much younger than it was, but was not that interesting other than that. Most rated it 3.5/5, so a good but not great wine.
I couldn’t resist and did open a bottle tonight. I paired it with braised short ribs and homemade pasta. I do agree with a lot of what I’ve read here. I really liked the nose: leather, complex, maybe some olive and barnyard. The palate was a bit disappointing though. Very dirty and maybe a hint of very dark fruit. Almost nonexistent finish. We drank it over the course of three hours and it definitely improved in that time.
I have a hunch that this might improve in the bottle for a little while. It’s so unusual a wine that I really can’t compare it to anything. I’m glad I was able to try it. Glad I have another bottle but probably won’t seek out any more. Definitely “good not great”.
