TN: 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Tasting

WINE TALK
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2007 CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE TASTING - Beltramo’s in Menlo Park, California (10/15/2009)

This was a well organized and very enjoyable tasting, featuring samples of the much lauded '07 vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape. There was time and sufficient quantities to permit confirmatory retasting of most of these wines. From these samples, I can better see why this vintage has received so much good advance press. (A couple of smaller '07 Rhone and CdP tastings I’ve been too recently were not as impressive. Those tastings suggested that there are some overripe, overoaked results from the vintage that remind me more of '03 than great CdP vintages like '05, '00 and '98.) I was particularly impressed by complex, well balanced offerings from more traditional producers–e.g., Vieux Telegraphe, Marcoux and Font de Michelle. Also very intriguing were the new CdP winemaking style represented by the Autards, especially the Cuvee Juline, whose unusual vinification process is described in the parenthetical after the TN below. Much less successful, in my opinion, were the producers who follow a less traditional style in terms of lots of new oak and over concentration. In this tasting, the Mordoree Cuvee de la Reine des Bois was the most disappointing example in that category.

My top wines in this tasting were the regular Font de Michelle and Vieux Telegraphe, closely followed by the Font de Michelle Etienne Gonnet, Autard Cuvee Juline, Brunel Les Cailloux, Grand Veneur Les Origines, Marcoux and the Pierre Usseglio.
Paul Autard

  • 2007 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark cherry red color; oak, black fruit, tar, orange nose; tight but very tasty tart berry, blackberry, mineral palate with definition; medium-plus finish (70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Counoise) (93 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Juline - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Very dark cherry red color; big, floral, berry, lilac, berry pie nose; ripe berry, berry pie, vanilla, boysenberry palate, a “modern” style CdP in a good way; medium-plus finish 93+ pts. (50% Syrah from 55-year-old vines on a parcel with sandy soil and 50% Grenache from 80-year-old vines from a parcel with round stones and sand, the Syrah and Grenache vinified separately; fermentation, vinification and maturation entirely in new, medium toast, Seguin-Moreau barrels with one side removed; 30-day maceration in these barrels with daily pigeage by hand; at end of 30 days, the wine is transferred to tank, the solids are pressed, and the juice then returned to the barrels; the barrel maker comes to the winery to replace the sides of the barrels, and the wine then begins its 16-month maturation period in these same barrels) (93 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée La Cote Ronde - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark purple cherry red color; sexy pepper, blackberry, berry, mineral nose; tart plum, tart berry, mineral palate with balance; medium-plus finish (50/50 old vine Grenache and Syrah; 100% new oak) (93 pts.)

la Barroche

  • 2007 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Signature - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark red violet color; intriguing ripe berry, black fruit, charcoal nose; dense, tart berry, mineral, plum, spice palate; medium-plus finish 93+ pts. (64% Grenache, 19% Mourvedre, 11% Syrah, 9% Cinsault) (93 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Fiancée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark red violet color; nice berry, plum, baked plum, baked raspberry nose; tasty, berry, ripe raspberry, mineral palate with good acidity; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine la Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Pure - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark red violet color; chocolate, deep berry, blackberry, berry pie nose; ripe, hedonistic, plush berry, blackberry, berry pie, boysenberry palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)

Beaucastel

  • 2007 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    1st bottle - dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; somewhat stewed, ripe berry, plum nose with a green note; tight, ripe berry, mineral, garrigue, spicy, not fully integrated; medium-plus finish 91 pts.

2nd bottle - dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; tart plum, baked plum, mineral, black fruit nose; berry, oak spice, plum, black fruit palate, more integrated than first (which may have been suffering from bottle shock?); medium-plus finish 93 pts. (93 pts.)

Lucien et André Brunel

Le Clos du Caillou

Font de Michelle

Giraud

  • 2007 Domaine Giraud Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tradition - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Very dark purple cherry red color; ripe plum, berry, mineral, oak nose; tart plum, berry, garrigue, black fruit palate; medium-plus finish (60% Grenache, 35% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre) (92 pts.)

Grand Veneur

  • 2007 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark purply cherry red; herbal, sous bois, pepper, charcoal nose; tart, herbal black fruit, tart plum, mineral, charcoal palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark purple cherry red color; floral, lavender, aromatic, berry, mineral, herbal nose; tasty, tart berry, mineral, tart plum palate, with density and balance; medium-plus finish 93+ pts. (93 pts.)

Marcoux

  • 2007 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Light canary yellow color; cream, almond, baked pear nose; minerally, tart citrus, tart pear, slightly nutty palate; medium-plus finish 92+ pts. (70% Roussanne, 10% Bourboulenc, 10% Clairette, 10% Grenache Blanc) (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Very dark cherry red color; nice light berry, plum, black fruit nose; tart plum, berry, mineral, garrigue palate with balance; medium-plus finish 93+ pts. (93 pts.)

la Mordorée

Roger Sabon

Vieux Télégraphe

  • 2007 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Bright light canary yellow color; hazelnut, cream, vanilla nose; tight, tart hazelnut, lemon, mineral, tangy palate; medium-plus finish (40% Clairette, 30% Grenache Blanc, 15% Roussanne, 15% Bourbolenc) (92 pts.)
  • 2007 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
    Dark cherry red color with pale meniscus; deep berry, garrigue, graphite nose; tight but tasty tart berry, black fruit, garrigue and mineral palate with balance; medium-plus finish 94+ pts. (94 pts.)

Pierre Usseglio

Posted from CellarTracker

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[welldone.gif] Thanks for the notes.

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Richard,

I love your notes - I could buy based solely on your notes and tastings, seriously.

I look forward to trying the ‘big houses’ of CdP for '07…hopefully buying some.

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Todd and Mark,
Thank you for the kind words.

Here are TNs on additional '07 Chateauneuf du Papes from another recent tasting, which included Cuvee du Vatican:

2007 CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPES - Vin Vino Wine, Palo Alto, California (10/10/2009)

Posted from CellarTracker

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I find your notes most helpful as I’ve bought a nice array of '07s and haven’t had any yet save for some CdR’s. Your notes are very well written, full of detail that makes sense to me and are very realistic. Keep up the good job.

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Super notes, thank you. I’m happy to see the balance in these notes. Way too often, the special cuvees receive a higher score just because they are, well, special cuvees.

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Nice notes but where the hell are the 100 pointers?!!! Geez, I’m going to have to sell off my purchases if they don’t get the mega points.

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I’m not convinced that Richard would state that '07 is the greatest vintage ever in any viticultural area.

Just sayin’…

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Well after tasting so many wines you’d think he’d loosen up a bit. He’s no fun at all. Let the big points roll! Best vintage on any planet in the history of the universe!!! Until 09.

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Richard surely has the consumption skills of a Scandinavian-German hybrid growing up in Wisconsin…he goes to epic tastings, and maintains detailed note-taking throughout, so we can all enjoy the information afterward - even if we could not enjoy the wines!

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Whatever… I don’t care how the hell a wine tastes. Just give me the points. I won’t buy unless its the vintage of eternity.

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Not a word anywhere on age ability and where he thinks these wines will go. Not a single note on any wine!

I’m not drinking 05s or 07s now. The 98s are still babies.

Are these pop and pour, drink now, wines, or what does he think they have a future? Does he omit these comments for a reason, or is his audience just the drink now crowd?

Just asking!

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Gordon, my assumption since these are all '07s and barely released, would be that they are going to age a little while more, but that’s just me.

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Gordon, there might be some top '98s that are still young… but most are ready to go. I think the '07s will be drinkable on release and age well.

Thanks for the notes Richard!

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Jeb;

I agree wholeheatedly with your comment. In TNs, I look for comments on when, along with drinking windows, the taster believes the wines will be best consumed.

Are we to believe that all the wines tasted are ageable wines? My guess is probably not. Which ones does he think would benefit from more aging? Which ones best consumed over the near term?

As an example, a friend of mine put out a post giving the 07 Beaucasted CdP a 95 with a “best after 2020” note. He found plenty of power in the wine now, but thought many of the flavors were currently muted and needed years to fully develop and become the wine it can and will be. So for the Beau I probably have the answer, but not for the multitude of other wines presented in this impressive tasting.

To me, that’s an important part of the TN. Perhaps to others it’s not. I fully realize some people, including posters on this board, never age wine much beyond the time it takes to get it home from the wine store + 30 days.

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Richard

Excellent notes, much appreciated.

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Echoing others comments - thank you for the lovely notes.

As for defining aging potential/drinking windows, I think that may be an activity more fraught with danger than assigning points for overall wine quality. With the vagaries of provenance, storage, bottle variation & taster variation it’s an exercise that can and will make fools of most if not all of us.

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Are your friend’s initial JSM by any chance? newhere

Kidding aside Gordon, why get so up in arms when someone else’s TNs are not to your exact standards? If they don’t work for you, they don’t work for you. Simple. No need to belittle anyone’s efforts because of this.

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Just yesterday I created a special place in the Asylum for posts like Gordon’s:

http://www.wineberserkers.com/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12057&p=160172#p160172" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Richard -

Great notes - but nothing over 93 pts…??? I must say I am surprised…

I thought the 2007 Autard CDP was a stunner for the price - and I personally don’t think Marcoux makes bad wine :slight_smile: