Have to agree on the 08. The two I opened were undrinkable. One left. Hoping for a miracle. I would not mind “light” but the brett has been off the charts.
well … shit. I guess I need to stop wasting all-too-valuable cellar space on my two.
I haven’t had brett issues with any of the 2008s opened, but agree that the finest one was the first, opened in 2012 or so. The most recent one was fizzy and hard, but did open up with a vigorous shake into a nice wine. I’ll take Dan’s advice and drink when the winter rains come.
Cracked one of my last 2008s a couple of months ago and was surprised how well it showed. Very focused, light and no brett
Ditto here, undrinkable. There’s a reason the wine was selling for $40 on release, it was/is big time flawed to my taste.
I have loved every bottle I have had of the 08. Thanks Dan for your evaluation. I love Pegau, especially in the mediocre vintages. Could you do a chart for the Laurence bottling too please?
Well, interesting.
Despite Laurences agreement I would rate some vintages different (IMHO),
for instance 1992 is better than 1991, 1997 better than 1996, 2000 is NOT light for me … 2008 much better than 1 point, and I prefer 2012 to 2013 …
But however, I LOVE all vintages … I even enjoyed 1991 (long gone).
And missing is
1981 - 10, great wine
1983 - 8, classic
![[wink.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/04707e6a7bbb03e0153e349d8a9270d30e1e9525.gif "wink"){kind=small}
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
The 2008 has a lot of bottle variation. I’ve had good and the not-so good. PC sold it to me for $32 on release. Yeah, the 04 is very good. Like Gerhard I love all the vintages I own.
Dan – that’s great stuff – thanks for sharing!
Went to open an '08 last night. But then I didn’t. Because I misremembered my '14s as '08s. Happy day!
Dan Kravitz, Thanks for sharing the amazing list. I’m a little puzzled that 2008 got the same rating as 2002, which was a complete washout. Maybe I have been lucky, but my 2008’s have been nice and not any more bretty than usual.
And, yes, Gerhard, the 1981 Pegau is one of the great wines of my life.
And Daniel McIntosh, I guess I was triply lucky with the 2008 case. First, I got it from PC at $25/bottle. Second, I actually got it! Finally, my bottles have NOT been variable.
to David Rudd,
If your list goes from 1 - 10 and there are 33 wines, of course there will be some anomalies. 2002 and 2008 are my least favorite vintages of Pegau. YMWV (your mileage will vary). Ideally I would have had 3 vintages each rated 1 - 10, with one extra at 4, 5 and 6. But I’m apparently not quite that obsessive.
to Gerhard P: I didn’t rate any vintages before 1985 because I didn’t import them, even though I’ve tasted quite a few back to 1959. This is not quite accurate, because when I imported the 1985, I was also offered a small quantity of the 1981 which I bought. It is indeed a great vintage, not sure if I would have rated it 9 or 10. However the wine I tasted and bought was what is now called ‘Cuvee Laurence’, it had been in mid-sized oak for ~5 years before bottling. I have no idea if they bottled any 1981 vinified and cellared like Cuvee Reservee. AFAIK, I have never had the 1983, dammit. Can’t swear it wasn’t served at dinner there one night, very late.
Dan Kravitz
Thanks for sharing Dan. I’ve been through the better part of a case of the '11 and agree that it’s a great wine for drinking now (and for 10+ years). Same with the '13, which seems to be a balanced early drinker.
I was surprised by Dan’s remarks on the 08 and so opened a bottle last night. I think this is still a charming wine. It certainly has less backbone than something like a 00 or an 01. But for tonight, I’d certainly prefer it to an 07, whatever the future of that wine will be. It’s probably a wine to drink up in the next few years, but my bottle was still at peak and showing no downhill signs. For the brett averse, there was certainly a touch of brett, but nothing overwhelming unless you are very sensitive. I have certainly tasted bottles of Pegau from numerous vintages with more. Dan’s response for why he felt he had to give this a ! (along only with the 02), more or less explains why I don’t give numerical evaluations.
Yuck. Pegau roulette. [suicide.gif]
A good shaking brought it to life. No worries.
I am a big fan of the 04. Really nice wine.
I also got lucky with my 08 bottles. They were not fizzy or more bretty than normal. I drank through them fairly quickly as I didn’t see them getting better with age. In general I’ve liked a lot of the so called lesser vintages.
My least favorite vintage over the last dozen or so years is 07.
Jeff, when did you try the 07? I ask because I tried it once upon release and did not like it, but my opinion changed significantly when I had it again a few years later.
Brian, looks like about a year and a half ago. Here is my note:
-
2007 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2/11/2017)
Lots of talk on WB about this wine so I figured I might as well try one. I am a fan of this producer as I don’t find them to be as over the top as many CdP’s and I don’t mind a little Brett. This was decanted for about an hour and it really wasn’t until it had seen two or three hours of air did it drink at it’s best. Early on the wine was unbalanced. It seemed hot and a bit hollow in the middle. The fruit is ripe and dark in tone. More bretty to me than normal, showing iodine and a little sweaty saddle leather. With air, the wine fleshed out and became better balanced and more enjoyable. Overall, the wine was just ok though, and probably my least favorite vintage over the last 10-12 years. I prefer so called off vintages like 04, 06, 08, 11, etc.
I think I have three left and I am not sure what to do with them, honestly. If I had a case I would probably sell. I’ll likely hold and drink them over the next ten years as an experiment and so I can participate in the debate. I need to check in our 07 Vieux Donjon, VT and St. Prefert now.
I haven’t opened any of my 09’s or younger, other than a couple bottles of 11, which I also like.
I’ve given my opinion of 2007 Pegau below. IMO, ~10 years is not a good age for this kind of vintage. I would hold until at least 2022 and IMO peak will be at ~20 years. By that time everything should integrate and I would expect something both powerful and subtle.
Dan Kravitz