2005 CDP-BLIND!

WINE TALK
1

In my circles, much is being made of 2005 vs. 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape. Robert Parker hailed 2007 as the best vintage in 30 years, while James Molesworth, Josh Raynolds many vigneron side on the 2005 side as superior. Anyway you dice it, 2005 is a great vintage by any standard, so for now, lets move past which vintage is better and see which 2005 is better than the other 2005s. The best place (for me) to accomplish that is at Executive Wine Seminars in New York. On July 14th, about 40 thirsty lovers of the Rhone gathered to taste 13 2005 Chateauneufs in the only method that Bob Millman and Howard Kaplan know how, BLIND. At the end, everyone votes for their top 3 wines, and the numbers are tallied.

Here are some brief notes on the wines…there were 3 flights. I do not SCORE wines, I just review them within each flight, so, if there are 5 wines in a flight, I rank them 1-5. First flight was wines 1-5, second flight 6-9, third flight 10-13.

  1. This was a beast, clearly new world style, very dense, very rich. Turned out to be Cuvee Vatican Reserve Sixtine. This finished in 8th place.
  2. This had written Beaucastel written all over it. Very bretty, almost rubbert nose. Herbatious in the mouth. I like my Beaucastel with age. Of course it turned out to be Pegau Reservee, and was well liked by the masses…4th place for the night.
  3. I very much enjoyed this wine. One of the most accessible wines of the night. Good, clean, rich and creamy…fun to drink, were my notes. Janasse Chaupin…6th place finish
  4. For me this was in a bit of a funky stage at first, when it did calm down, a hint of cocoa emerged. I kept wanting more on the finish, though. Considering the price, not too shabby…Milliere VV…11th place
  5. For me, this wine was off the hook. The nose of the night! Big, rich, and very young, this was my idea of a great CDP to lay down. Plenty of new oak, but not overwhleming the great chocolatey minty fruit. I was clearly in the minority on this one…Beaurenard Boisrenard…7th place overall (my second place)
  6. Wow was what I first jotted down. Big, bruising, masculine wine. Deep rich, cherry nose, this has of the stuffing to be a great wine…Usseglio Deux Freres…2nd place overall (my first place). It did get the most number of first place votes
  7. Bleh was my first note. Just tasted awful. Hollow, oaky and smokey is what I wrote down. Domaine Charvin…13th place
  8. We originally had an off btl (I pegged it as corked, which others at my table disagreed with, in the end something was definitely wrong, as we had a taste from a better btl). Unfortunately the better wine was not all that much better. I liked it more than the group though. Beaucastel…11th place
  9. This was like Strawberry (rhubarb) pie in an absolutely delicious way. Very jammy, soft and feminine, I was a huge fan…Clos des Papes…5th place (my 4th place)
  10. This was old school CDP. I actually commented that it may have smelled like burning cannabis. I liked, but not for the reason…Vieux Donjon…3rd place overall
  11. Very closed down wine, while most wines were showing their youth, this one may have been the baby of the bunch. There was some good fruit. It had the lightest color of the night…Vieux Telegraphe…9th place
  12. This wine was swesome, Big blueberry, very well balanced, and delicious. Very masculine, I could have sucked this down with a straw. Barroche Fiancee…1st place overall, third place for me (Pegau Donjon, and Usseglio all received more first place votes, but this was top 3 for 75% of the room)
  13. This wine was practically black, when lined up near VT, you may have thought the VT was a Rose! Possibly some Sulfur issues. Clearly new world, ripe fruit, not good at all. All btls the same. Clos du Caillou Reserve…9th place. Disappointing for me, as I have enjoyed their wines in the past.

As a whole, 2005 CDP is a great vintage. Out of 13 wines here, I would be happy to drink 9 of them, which is a lot, as I tend to be a harsh critic, as blind tasting is always difficult. Barroche Fiancee is a bargain and worth seeking out. The producer makes amazing wines. Usseglio Deux Freres was just so outstanding. Clos des Papes stood its ground and considering its release price, did very well against the competition.

These wines are clearly wines for the cellar, for the most part. Find some 2004 and 2006 bargains, while allowing your 2005s to mature!

2

Interesting note on Charvin as that wine sees no wood whatsoever. Not even an old foudre. Thanks for the notes…

3

Dan,

Thanks for sharing your notes. Tasting blind is humbling and sharing your notes takes stones.

Glad to hear about the Janasse, I am trying the 06 for the first time and if I like it will look to lay down a bottle of the 05.

4

I am well aware Peter…just telling you what I tasted. [thankyou.gif]

I enjoyed a 2004 just 3 weeks ago (not blind).

Blind tastings are very humbling. I enjoy them. More critics should utilize them.

The greatest blind OL of all time was the Ghost Horse dinner! [worship.gif]

So no one thinks badly of me, I respect Peter’s palate immensely.

5

it’s very enjoyable to read blind tasting notes – thanks for posting yours, dan. [cheers.gif]

6

I agree, I love blind tastings. It removes all the bias.
How was the 2004 Charvin? Last time I had it, which is a while ago, it was fairly muted/closed down. His Cotes du Rhone from the same year is just coming out of its shell I think.

7

Dan,

I have not really read all that many tasting notes for many months now. And do not recall reading many of your notes, to the point where I had no opinion of your “style” FROM tasting notes. But reading many of your posts overall, I would have THOUGHT that you would be more of a Jaouen palate, where you don’t like the new wave style, or over the top types, or for that matter (from what I have read of the 2005 vintage in CDP, and the few tastes I have had) the '05 vintage.

So, I was surprised to read so many positive notes on wines that were clearly “blueberry”, kind of full of fruit CDPs. The first thing I thought was "Man, he DOES like some of these, for a lack of a better way to say it, "Parkerized wines. What I guess I am saying is that you don’t neccesarily dislike the KIND wines that Parker or JAY rave about, just some, or many, singular examples. Kinda puts things into a clearer picture for me.

Interesting. We might actually align in our palates more than I would have known. I like wines like you described, some a little more over the top and some closer to earthy, minerally, more terroir, etc. I just stop short though of Barnyard, and that shit that Jaouen calls wine. neener

Thanks for taking the time to write up your thoughts on those wines. [thumbs-up.gif]

But I have to say…do you have some agenda??? [dance-clap.gif]

8

Dan, Beau has not been bretty for a number of years so that was a lousy guess but Pegau continues to be infected with brett. I find it is within the level I find enjoyable in most vintages.

I think Cuvee Vatican is making better and better wines every year as they have reeled in the heavy oak treatment.

I’m not a fan of the Barroche style. Too big and lacking in CdP character for me but I haven’t tried many so maybe I should give them another go.

Surprised at the Charvin. Not surprised at the Vieux Donjon as that is an awesome wine. Probably the most consistent CdP from vintage to vintage since '98.

9

Peter,

The 2004 I had (I believe there are TNs on this forum) was a very young wine, indeed.

Paul,

You may not like Barroche, but I love it!

Steve,

I have posted on the Parker board that I do enjoy many over the top wines, although, I think I have found a niche in telling the difference between a well made wine and one that I like to say is “trying too hard.” Many of the over the top Spanish wines are great, and I drink them. That being said, I drink very few of the Aussie versions. Since I was scared off from writing TNs over there, I think much of what I said got clumped into the “Max Marinucci-I hate everything category.” Nothing could be further from the truth. Well, almost. At the Viu Manent lunch Tyler, Mark Franks, Max and I did, I HATED the 2006 Viu Manent, found the 2004 uninspiring, but did enjoy the 2005.

Since I first tasted the 2003 SQN Papa, I have been saying that that is the best SQN Syrah that I have had but Parker always gave it just 97 vs his typical 100 points (note Parker’s TNs in the WA come from his tastings at that winery). It just meant I was always able to find the 2003 cheaper than the JFTLOI or Poker Face.

Do I think many of these overblown wines are worthy of 99 or 100 points? That is another story.

10

Thanks for posting Dan. I think the Beaucastel is in a very bad spot now. The Pegau, while drinking well, is also primary. The Vieux Donjon is a real treat. I have yet to try the Deux Freres, but it is supposed to be monolithic!

11

Faryan, I am proud to be aligned with your palate.

When you are going to open a Deux Freres, let me know. I would love to be there to have 3/4 of the btl!

12

Great notes Dan. I’m a fan of a lot of those wines and I enjoyed reading your take on them.

13

I have the first week of January 2010 marked on the calender for the annual new CNDP blind tasting Chez Jeb. 2007 should be a dandy [bye.gif]

14

Next time you hombres are tasting up in NY, drop me a line. Gives me an excuse to crash with my buddies in BedSty [shock.gif] [help.gif]

15

Thanks Jeb, I appreciate that.

Faryan,

Will let you know…