Anyone tried and care to comment on the 2019 wines from Pegau? I heard a rave review some time back but I can’t remember where. Thanks
Really great question - I have been wondering this myself. Pegau is one of my favorite producers in the world.
Dan Kravitz I would love to get your take on this vintage, including how it fits into the vintage ratings you provided several years ago.
Outstanding effort - writing about Cuvee reservee:
Full bodied and ripe, but not hot, very mouthfilling, reminds me on something between 1990, 2009 and 2010 … ripe sweet tannins with fine inner core … a baby, but giving already a lot … 96+points
In 2019 there is a special Cuvee POL in the making (Paul, Odette, Laurence) … mostly Cinsault (+Syrah?), very dark, spicy, concentrated, different but very interesting … not yet bottled …
3 Likes
I have had the good fortune to taste this twice at Pegau, once in May of 2021 out of foudre, once in March 2022 out of bottle. Here are both notes:
May 2021 - from Foudre:
The 2019 Cuvee Reservee at 20 months is still almost pitch black. The aromas are a little more open than usual at this age, offering a mélange of black raspberry, black plum, garrigue and some piquant spice character. The palate has full-throttle power allied with impeccably polite manners. This is a truly outstanding vintage, reminiscent more of 2009 than 2017.
March 2022 - from bottle
The 2019 Cuvee Reservee from bottle has strong plummy aromas with smoky notes, tomatos and garrigue herbs underneath. There’s a panoply here. This is a big, opulent vintage, intense with blue fruits, spicy, floral, with notes of roses and violets. The finish is exceptionally long.
Like the 2009, this should drink well straight through. 2010 was perhaps a better vintage, but was pretty stern for a while, from about 5 - 8 years of age. I don’t think that will happen with 2019, but it is a large scale wine that will not peak until about 20 years of age.
Dan Kravitz
2 Likes
Dan’s and Gerhard’s comparison to 2009 brings a smile to my face. Went back to my notes and I found I gave the 09 one of my highest scores for a Pegau when sampled at 8 and 10 years.
-
2019 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (4/21/2022)
Delicious, pure, but insanely young. For me this is not yet expressing what I want to see from a Pegau, as it is too locked up in youthful structure at this point. I would wait. (92 pts.)
Posted from CellarTracker
2 Likes
Unless they’ve changed their cellar practices, with Pegau you can expect one spectacular bottle, one average bottle and one 
This is my tasting note from tasting at the domain. Count me in the big fans of the 2019 if you like Pégau on the freshness, acidity and even salinity 
2019 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (04-02-22)
Nez un peu fumé, herbes de Provence, bacon fat… Très belle acidité et fraicheur, cerise rouge grillotte, très belle salinité et buvabilité, très belle tension. (96 pts.)
NOT from MY cellar !
Given your indicated location, I would agree with that.
I haven’t noticed significant Pegau bottle variation myself. Regarding earthy/bretty/mushroomy/barnyard notes, I’ve always thought it was just enough in Pegau to make the wine interesting, uncannily almost perfectly calibrated for my palate, but never over the top. It’s possible that you are more tuned in and/or sensitive to those qualities. Cheers.
I have no idea how any bottles of Pegau taste/tasted in the USA. How can I?
But I´ve tasted Pegau not only from my cellar but from other sources in Austria, Germany and France … and I´ve not noticed any huge differences (qualities of bottling) over time … sure there were some corked bottles here or from elsewhere … and as everybody knows the older bottles get the more different they can get in their evolution (cork, transport, storage …) but those minor differences are natural …
otherwise I´ve not noticed anything abnormal …
except maybe the fact that some of my own older bottles tasted slightly fresher that the same wine tasted at the domaine: the cellar there is not as cool over the year as mine is …
my 0.02
Completely agree. I haven’t had a ton, but have loved all that I’ve tried and never had a bottle I’d considered flawed.
Same story here. I’ve had a fair bit of Pegau and it has consistently been excellent. I can only think of one disappointing bottled - an '07 that may well have been heat damaged.
1 Like
The only poor bottle of Pegau I had was a 2003 opened at about 10 years. The wheels had come off with over ripe stewed fruit. Which was odd because previous bottles of that vintage I had tried were terrific. Then I heard that there were some lots of bottles that had been mishandled in shipping, but I don’t recall the specifics.
I once saw a truck standing in the summer in Southern France near a winery, back door completely open, the sun fully hitting on palettes of another well-known producer … it was 35+° C (95+°F) in the shadow … and nobody there for at least 15+ min.
The truck certainly had no coooling unit either …
That´s how it might happen …
Can’t comment on the Pegau 2019 (haven’t had the chance to open). But my experience from multiple past vintages is remarkably consistent…In addition, last weekend I cracked open a 2017, it was marvelous! Pegau is such an interesting drink (going back to consistency), once you have had one it is a very easy pick in a “blind”. Rambling on…if I had one criticism it would be it is too consistent. A Pegau is a Pegau is a Pegau!
I have 27 notes in cellartracker for Pegau reserve and Laurence from vintages 1995 to 2015. I considered 1 bottle flawed due to brett and 3 bottles that I felt the brett was a negative while the wine was still enjoyable. I thought 8 of the 27 bottles were fantastic. So overall, this is not a bad outcome for me.