2007 Tardieu-Laurent Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Speciale
Medium red color. Maturing, w/some brick. Medium depth of color.
Nose > Big, fat, beautiful rich roasted chestnut, cherry bark, plum, & black cherry.
Overall not fruit-driven. Complex, waxy black berries, beach plum, licorice, sumac tea,
Added more black cherry Grenache fruit, lavender, & caraway seed w/air.
Hint of fairly widespread CDP old barrel/bacterial funk. Works here as a back-note, although I usually consider it a negative, if not always a flaw.
Palate > Big & rich. Medium intensity. Plum, raw beef, grainy oak, underbrush, sumac tea, roasted chestnut, cherry stone & bark.
Both sappy & meaty; Savory & rich.
Slightly more than medium intensity. Fairly long. Finishes w/med+ tannins, & firm, but not hard.
Screams for rare, BBQ beef. Certainly would be better (to my palate) as a food wine.
91 1/2 Points
That being said - not really my cup-o-tea. This is firmness & structure over fruit. Certainly not big tannins, but they overbalance primary fruit.
This 100% Grenache cuvee doesn’t have nearly the intensity, or big, luscious fruit of the V.V. cuvee.
Anti-fruit lovers who drink their reds with meat (definitely Beef w/this puppy) will like this more than I did, I’m sure.
I also wouldn’t age this one more than a couple years unless you’re of the aforementioned anti-fruit lover bent.
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