2007 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Medium body, medium dark garnet color; nice, bright, lush, vibrant red fruit, raspberry, touches of anise and earth, some spice coming in on the finish, very nice. (91 pts.)
2007 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Full bodied, dark garnet; huge, rich, deep, plum, fig, dark raspberry, balanced with some nice dried herb savoriness, anise, tannins are on the low side, maybe missing some layers of complexity and a bit longer finish. An outstanding wine, though quite modern in style. Very forward and lush, though none of the stewed ripeness of the 2003 vintage. (94 pts.)
2007 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Deux Frères- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Some ripe berry compote on the nose, hints of VA/ethyl acetate, but not to the point of distraction; huge, dense dark red fruits, bordering on liqueur-like, good balance for the heavy weight of the wine, a bit of heat and some alcohol spice showing on the finish, it all adds up to just a bit too much. For its “style” this would probably be rated more like 96, but in absolute terms I can’t give it that high a score. Double blind l would never have guessed CdP, probably more like Alban, though this has more elegance if you can use that word. IMO a wine that’s not going to get better with age, should be drunk young, though I know many will disagree. I wouldn’t want to be in their shoes when they open this $200+ bottle in 10-15 years. (90 pts.)
Quite a good showing for the wines in general, though I wonder if this is a good argument for producing just a single cuvee, as opposed to breaking out “luxury” bottlings of special barrels. Even the “regular” 07 Cdp is a wonderful wine, I can’t help but wonder how good a single blend of these wines would be (obviously taking into account the smaller production of the higher end wines). Have to believe they could have produced an even better single bottling, a la Clos de Papes. But I guess it’s hard to pass up the $$$ from the ultra-cuvees that get granted big scores. Posted from CellarTracker
I’ve had the 03 Mon Aieul twice and it was very fresh, not stewed at all. I’m glad however that you find the 07 better… if I do I’ll be very, very happy.
Alan, thanks for the notes on the ‘standard’ CdP - that is the first note I’ve seen. The two luxury cuvees sound nice but I’m still happy about buying the regular cuvee at $18! Sounds like I made the right choice!
Premier Cru had a “Special Set” offer that included one of each: 2007 Usseglio, Clos St. Jean, Cristia - all for $54 per set. I grabbed a case worth, now we’ll see how long they take to deliver…
Bad wording on my part. I have not had the 03 MA, so can’t compare. I was trying to contrast these 07s with the 03 vintage in more general terms. But to be honest, I’ve had a lot of 03s, and not one could hold a candle to any of these wines. Not one. One man’s opinion
Cheers
Breezing through the old threads on the 2007 Usseglio base domaine to see the opinions of the Board. I’ve now had two in the last month or so, and frankly, they have been horrid. Volatile, hot, disjointed and both sappy and bitter at the same time. Both bottles recently consumed, including the remainder of a bottle tonight that I popped last night, showed about the same. Anyone else recently try this wine?
I’m a bit surprised given how much I otherwise love the 2007 vintage, though admittedly, more at the CDR level or Gigondas appellation. I have easily gone through 10 cases of '07 CDRs. I have also had some very good '07 CDPs, including Beaucastel and even MA, but then some CDPs are showing far too hot for me. This 2007 Usseglio is a classic example of some of the poor showings I have had.
I gotta note that I was not too impressed with the '06 base domaine either, though the MA was outstanding.
I don’t think most CdP places make the really expensive special cuvees for the money. They don’t make enough bottles to make much money. It’s more a matter of the prestige of pointsy wines, as well as more laudable reasons, in some cases, for showing off vintages or the best barrels or cuves. I also doubt in many cases, adding them back into the regular cuvees would do that much to the quality of those cuves, though in some it might.
My objection to them is 1)they tend to make the regular cuvees take on the character of 2nd labels, which would be no big deal if not for 2)many of them are very artificed wines and it is unfortunate if, because of their prestige, these wines were to become the identity of the appelation. A tasting of only first growth bordeaux would still be a tasting of bordeauxs, but a tasting of most CdP supercuvees would give one almost know idea of what CdP is about. I feel that with Usseglio Deux Freres more than with Mon Aieul, but to an extent with both.
Save from CDP sycophants (and Uncle Bob) I can’t say I have seen too many flattering things about CDPs from this vintage in the last year or so. These notes are not too different than my impressions when I tasted them prior to release. Though, I must admit to liking them all much less, and worrying about the MA much more.
I don’t think its harsh. I just think the vintage is controversial because of its style. I freely admit to not liking this vintage from the start . . . in much the same way I never liked the '03 vintage. But, I have generally enjoyed the wines of this region (one of my favorite vintages is another hot year: '98). But '07 really set my CDP (and more specifically my Grenache) consumption back a long ways.
I have had several bottles of the 2007 P. Usseglio CdP Tradition and I have to say I am a bit disappointed. I have found all bottles (3 out of a case of 12) to be on the super-ripe (should I say over-ripe?) side, to the point where I found the wine to be cloying. Since I bought a case, I will keep trying these, but I would not be giving this wine 91 points so far…
I like the wine a lot! Very youthful & fun to drink.
2007 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape- France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (5/21/2010)
Popped & poured. At first, tons of garrigue, spice, and black cherry aromas explode from the glass. This makes me happy. Youthful, brash, juicy, spicy & tannic on the palate. After 2 hours, texture turns more silky, more focused, black raspberry fruit, black pepper and garrigue, finish is long and delicious. Also some vanilla bean, which I usually don’t like, but this was nice. At this stage, not as sweet as the 2001. I do get a touch of heat on the nose and palate, but not bothersome as the wine is so fresh. Loved this when I tasted at Crush wine shop last year (why I bought some) and love it now. 92+ (92 pts.)
Carl, different tastes, bottles, days, you know the drill. And also, it’s a year and a half later, which I think really changes wines like these. So wouldn’t surprise me on any given day that I might have the same reaction you do now, who knows.
Cheers
I love the 07 CDP vintage. I do not like Parker. I could never understand his scores for aussie wines and when I noted my disappointment with 2005 BDX on eBob, Parker went out of his way to attack little ol’ me personally. But these CDPs are more fun than a barrel of monkeys and unless I decide to flip a few of my 100 point 2007 CDPs, I could not care less what Parker thinks.
BTW, the 2007 Usseglio tradition is a very good wine. If you want to sell, I will buy.
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