Evening lakeside in Orlando with fellow berserker Robert Alert (his house) enjoying an amalgam of tasty treats, elk sausage, roaring forties blue cheese, dutch Reypenaer V.S.O.P. aged cheddar, semolina bread, pizza etc…mangia!!!
I brought the 2007 Domaine Louis Boillot et Fils Volnay 1er Cru Carelle Sous la Chapelle , delivering the goods on the nose and waves of earth and truffle on the palate.
Outside in full display inside the gorgeous artistic beauty of the Riedel amadeo decanter rested the Clos des Papes. Not sure how long Robert had this decanted for, but it is another Papes gem.
The nose offers up lavish aromas of peking duck and soy rounded out by touches of gaminess. A breathtaking start. The palate continues with it’s great pedigree, a smooth linear flow of dark cherries, dates, iron, light creosote and anise. A fantasic wine.
The end of the night was capped by a little german flavor I found local. The 1994 Dillmann Riesling Trockenbeerenauslese. This wine starts with a deep dark hue, oxidized? Oh no, this is a beauty, lots of fresh acidity, lemon meets orange reduction, almonds and caramel. Robert was loving this as was I. What a way to end the night after the brilliant '05 Clos de Papes and the tasty liquid mushroom attack of the '07 Louis Boillotet Fils Volnay 1er Cru Carelle Sous la Chapelle.
Thank you Robert for breaking out the Papes and not saving it for your real guests. We’ll do it again
yes Alfert we were just finishing our drinks after Chris came home
yes I did forget the east bench, thanks for reminding,
yes too much wine
yes I figured the ride was probably out
-AND-
yes I did accept your lovely cab franc parting gift to get me to leave the house!!!Some people just don’t have a clue, but when they get a free bottle they do! Ha Thanks again for inviting me over.
We welcome Jeb, Faryan, sheez anyone from WB, to come visit our little wasteland called Orlando. We swear to (1) pop good wine, (2) get you juiced and (3) take you cycling the next day to inflict physical pain. Marc is still not ready for No. 3, but keeps reminiscing about his mountain-biking days, as if that is “cycling”. The parting gift may be (4) on the list, but I’m still trying to figure out if Marc just up and stole it. He did slip out rather quickly.
if i misappropriated any of Roberts juice it’s completely alleged, though the parting gift was a rare moment of kindness from a cold dark heart Not ready for No.3??? I’ve riden the hotter than hell 100, i have nothing left to prove!!! any excuses not to ride moving forward are akin to asthma and a tachycardia condition…and did i mention it just cuts into my quality time drinking wine
Though I must say if i had those fancy pedals of yours, i would ride to work everyday, thats the sweetest bike in the entire city of orlando. No joke
Though my bike would have to look a bit more flamboyant than yours, so that when I’m riding down the street it screams “look at me”!!! Anything to boost my lagging self esteem!!!
2005 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (6/12/2020)
– decanted 1 hour before initial taste –
– tasted non-blind over a couple hours –
NOSE: red-fruited; Italian herbs & crackers; expressive; some tertiary baked red fruit aromas.
BODY: rustic garnet color; {forgot to note wine’s weight}
TASTE: still a bit tannic, but finally showing some obvious aged character — old furniture, which I frequently find in aged CdP. This has finally reached a point where cellar time has paid-off; drinking well now, but still has room for further improvement. Drink or Hold. Gut impression score: low 90s.
For me this wine was the one that confirmed for me that Clos des Papes had gone over to the dark side, after I gave the 03 a pass because of the vintage and, although suspicious, decided to consider the 04 an anomaly. Also proof that you don’t need Cambie consulting to make rocket fuel. Of course, I stopped buying at this point so I might have been wrong about how it evolved, but the 03 and 04, which I did buy, would not have persuaded me of that. I’m surprised it is to Alfert’s taste, but he can rag me for liking Saint Damien I suppose.
Haha, blast from the past, glad I opened the thread. And yes, MarxF and I are still friends. Not buying much CDP these days. Did not like the 03 or 07 of this wine, gifted the 09 to my dad, and never bought again. Is it still “dark”?
17 Beaucastel is delicious. There are so many good ones. In our most recent vertical, the 05 and 10 were the best from the past 20 years, though our bottle of 01 was flawed and normally that wine is great as well. To my taste, none of these are yet at the level of 89 or 90, which continue to top our single blind tastings.
I recently acquired two bottles of 85 and the one we drank seemed as good as the 89 and 90. That wine was already drinking beautifully when I started collecting wine in 87/88.
The change in Clos des Papes occurred with the handover of the winemaking from Paul to Vincent Avril (or at least roughly then), always a dangerous moment for a domaine. I haven’t really had any since a bottle of the 06 (which I received as a gift) so I don’t know what it’s like these days, but I haven’t heard reports of another change in style.
I’ve always been a fan of Pegau and 01 is a great wine. I’ve never been as fond of Beaucastel since they cleaned up their brett in the 90s, but they do make a good wine. I have some bottles of the 01 and maybe should crack one. I stopped buying it after that, only because other domaines stole their place in my heart.
It is full richness, high abv in most years, thick, glycerin to the point of almost syrupy mouthfeel, and overtly sweet-tasting. Rich and complex, but it is a very heavy, extracted, fruit-focused wine. I’ve had most of the last 10 years or so of releases. I no longer buy them but taste with a few friends who enjoy them. Having one after a volnay would be such a profound stylistic change it would be like cheesecake after arugula and grapefruit salad with vinaigrette.
Inspired by this thread, I opened one of my 01 Beaucastels last night. I stopped buying after that but I still hoped that the Beaucastel 20 year magic might set in. This was a perfectly nice wine from a strong vintage. But, for me, it was without distinction. I would easily prefer Pegau, Charvin, Vieux Telegraphe, Vieux Donjon (the last of their great wines for me), Clos de Papes, Mourre de Tendre, Marcoux–I expect I could go on. When I first got into CdP in the 80s, Beaucastel was at the top of the heap (I never could afford Rayas or Bonneau and have never had more than a handful of either so they are literally, for m, hor classe). If you have had Beaucastel in 81, 83, 85, 89, 90, you know what that wine could be. Some of the late 90s wines are also up there. But this just isn’t the Beau I fell in love with.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
Not ready for No.3??? I’ve riden the hotter than hell 100, i have nothing left to prove!!! 
any excuses not to ride moving forward are akin to asthma and a tachycardia condition…and did i mention it just cuts into my quality time drinking wine