2000 Pegau: the wine that never fails to dissapoint me.

WINE TALK
1

No, I am not being provocative with that title. I had the 2000 Pegau many years ago at a dinner in New Jersey with some friends, and I still feel it is one of the best CdP’s I have ever had. Heck, I credit it with my turning into a CdP fan. After that dinner, I bought a bunch of this wine on the secondary market. And it has never failed to dissapoint me. No, it isn’t horrible. I almost wish it was so that I could just toss it out. It shows some black fruit and spice, and is decent enough at 88 points today. Virtually no complexity. But it is not the total beauty love of my life wine that I had in New Jersey, that I felt was easily 96 points. I guessing I bought a batch that was just damaged enough along the way

2

I must qualify by saying that this wine was purchased upon released and cellared in the absolute most pristine environment, my cellar (IMHO). flirtysmile

  • 2000 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (5/8/2009)
    Deep red/garnet robe with garnet rim. Clean nose, showing quite intense aromas of black cherry, underbrush, clove and other assorted spices. Medium-to-full-bodied on the palate, with medium acidity, medium sweet tannins and flavors which mirror the nose. Long, smooth finish. Quite nice now, this wine should remain pleasing for several more years. Drink now-12/15. (94 pts.)

Posted from CellarTracker

Cheers!

Colin [cheers.gif]

3

This domaine is kinda like JJ Prum in that it has an importer of record [Rudi Wiest ↔ Dan Kravitz] and then about a gazillion other folks who are gray-marketing it in one form or another.

Personally, I haven’t had any Pegau in ages, but there’s a fellow over at that other board who was non-plussed with [u]a recent da Capo[/u] - and he knows a thing or two about wine.

4

Great note Bob.
I love this stuff too.

5

[scratch.gif] Are you sure you read it? I don’t think there is a great note there. [oops.gif] The wine I bought is obviously mildly damaged. Good, but not what it should be.

6

Too bad Bob. I’ve drunk through about two cases and they have all been great. Come back to NJ and we’ll open another bottle.

7

You are the one who turned me on to this Paul. And probably to CdP in general. The bottles I bought have not been as good as yours. The good news is that I bought 03 and 04 at release, so I am more assured of having intact wine.

8

Ooops.
I was reading the note from Colin.
This bottle was obviously flawed.
Sorry for the confusion.

9

sorry you had a sub-par bottle this time around, Bob. I’ve had the pleasure of having this wine once … it was a beauty!


12/26/2008:
Double-decanted before the event: decanted for 2.5 hours
Tasted blind: served 5th out of 12

NOSE: classic CdP! barnyard, funk, spice, dark loganberry … still youthful bouquet.

BODY: dark garnet color; medium-full bodied; clear.

TASTE: Unbelievable how youthful this wine still is: some leather, dark raspberry, garrigue; ample spice and a hint of earth. This baby is packed!! 40-45 second finish…this is only going to get better. I would love to see how this is going 10 years from now. My #2 WOTN.

B: 50, 5, 13, 17, 8 = 93

10

Funnily enough I have the reverse experience. I thought it was a rather mundane wine at first, but it seems it has improved, at least based on the last bottle I had at the beginning of the year…

11

Bob,

There is no such thing as great wines, only great bottles. blahblah

I can’t say I’ve had it recently but maybe it’s time to crack one. Make it back to NY again and I’d be happy to pop one bought on release so we can see what the real deal is. PDH again?

12

We anticipate having to go back to NY again, so that sounds like a plan.

And while we really enjoyed the PDH, our biggest regret was that we ended up not trying that lamb dish that sounded awesome. So, we definately want to go back and make sure we get that as well. [training.gif]

13

From where did you buy it?

14

I have said this so often I know I am boring people, but other than Falesco, Pegau is the single most inconsistent producer I know. One bottle is great, the next middling, the next undrinkable. They bottle whenever they like, as much as they like. Bottle 1 and bottle 25,000 may have only a passing similarity to one another. Add to this the persistent, profound, and unaddressed problems they have with brett, and I will never buy another bottle until things change there radically. I know the brand has many fans, and I know the Ferauds are supposed to be lovely people. I wish them nothing but success. And I have had magical bottles (one 2003 was nearly perfect; another was, at best, a 90 point wine). But I have poured more bottles of Pegau down the drain – including 5 or 6 bottles of undrinkably shitty 1999 – than any other wine. I know they are supposed to be old school and not slaves to technology, but if you can’t produce a consistent product using old school techniques, you should find a new method. I don’t find Russian Roulette with wine purchases charming in any respect. I am simply done with them.

15

Neal, very strange. I’ve been drinking Pegau for years and if anything they are very consistent. Two cases of the 2000 have all been excellent. Yes, there is brett and I would assume that shipping/storage may play a role in how prominent it shows. But I don’t get the inconsistency that you seem to have experienced.

16

This thread got me curious to check in on my remaining stash of 2000 Pegau. I bought a couple of cases back in '02/'03 and I too have had mostly disappointing (or at least varying experiences) since the first half case I went through. Don’t get me wrong, it’s generally been a decent wine–and I’ve had a few great 2000s–but again tonight it was just merely good… 89/90 points if I had to put a number to it.

I like Pegau and have had at least 10 different vintages but the 2000 has been perplexing.

Anyway, just another data point from the peanut gallery.

Marty