2003 Domaine Saint Préfert Châteauneuf-du-Pape Collection Charles Giraud
Decanted 3 hours before dinner. The first of my 2 bottles but the 2nd time I have had this wine. The last time was in 2006. Heavily sedimented. A brickish red color. Very earthy and definitely old world in style. There was a sweetness among the red berries and molasses notes in this wine. A bit medicinal on the finish and over the hill. Hope my other bottle aged better. Drink now. 77 points.
VM
Why would you decant this? Especially for 3 hours ? While I’m not a fan of 03s, pop and pour would have been much better.
As I read through TN, it sounded like a positive note. That 77 rating at the end came in like a thud, but not unexpected 
.
I tried it immediately after opening and it did not change much over the 3 hours.
VM
Old wines can often benefit from decanting, even long decants. Very old Barolos virtually demand them. At a recent dinner party, a friend brought a 1990 Les Cailloux. On opening, it smelled sour and dead. After a two hour decant, It showed very well indeed.
This is a prime time Cambie wine though and an 03. I am not surprised it did not make old bones.
My comment was about Chateauneuf in general, as most will lose more than they gain with 3 hours of air.
But more pointedly, with 2003, 3 hours of air will destroy any of them. It’s a vintage that was best in its youth. Today 2003 has in most cases gotten much worse with time.
You will note that I did talk about a 1990 CdP that benefited from a long decant and also already made your point about this one being an 03, which was not generally a long lived vintage and a Cambie wine to boot. There are 03s that are doing fine by the way: Pegau and Charvin to my knowledge.
I’m with you on Pegau, it’s the true success story of the vintage!
And of course I read your full post. I often do as I value your comments on the Rhone.
Appreciate the note. Don’t have many ‘03s. I started buying in earnest in 2004. I think I still have a Clos Des Papes and a couple Vieux Donjon floating around. Need to drink up.
Always been a big St Prefert fan though but I could see how this wine might not hold up great over the long term. Such a weird vintage.
