2004 Clos du Mont-Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape: Pours ruby in the glass. Floral, herbal nose with a bit of pepper. On the palate, there is some pepper and herb, but also ripe (not over-ripe or roasted) red fruit, some saddle leather/saddle oil, and just a touch of a grilled meat note. The wine is not over-sized or sweet; rather, it is supple and almost silky, with fine tannins at the back. The label says the wine carries 15% abv, but I don’t know where it is hiding. This wine reminds me of what appeals to me about CDP, and I think it has years of good drinking left. Maybe CDP is more about vintage and producer now than it used to be. This is a very nice wine in any case, and a super deal at $32.
This is the first bottle I have tried from the two cases I bought from the Down To Earth FRANCE and GERMANY offerings (thanks again, Robert). Too bad there were only two available when I placed the order. On the side of the good, I was able to order more of the 2006, which I suspect I will also appreciate.
I really, really enjoy Mont Olivets regular CDP. If you guys get a chance pick up some of the 2010. It’s a beautiful wine with some serious cellar potential.
The '11 is also a pale pure stunner for those who prefer less ripe years…the offer on the '12 is going out next week…it rocks. Like the '10 in fullness and poise, but a bit less tannic. Thierry Sabon believes the '12s are far more “classic” in profile than the '10s or '05s, both of which have a much higher level of tannin. Silky finesse, baby!
CHEERS !
I like this producer as well. I drank a magnum of the 2000 Clos du Mont-Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet recently and it was in excellent form and still might improve some at least in this format. The CDR is an excellent value almost every vintage.
04 is a very under appreciated vintage in CDNP - the 04 Clos des Papes was killer on release. Haven’t touched one in a while, but a recently popped an 04 Pegau which was drinking extremely well. The 04’s trend a little on the lean side for CNDP, good acidity and freshness.
I agree about 04 CdPs as well, though less so about Clos des Papes since 03 if one wants more restrained wines. I would also be careful about comparing 04s and 06s. Neither are the bruisers the 07s and 09s are (and I don’t think the 09s are like the 07s either for that matter), but the 04s lean more toward spice and earth, the 06s more toward bright fruit. Of course all generalizations are wrong with regard to given wines and I’m not familiar with Clos Mt. Olivet in 06.
Was in CDP last summer and visit Mont Olivet - walked in and no one was in the tasting room other than open bottles for tasting and bottles for sale. Waited a few minutes and started to wonder if the tasting was on the honor system! Someone finally showed up and, for the price, I preferred the 11s to the 10s, but both were great and great values. Only wish I bought more at cellar prices to bring back stateside.
It’s great to read all of the comments that followed from my note. I just wanted to chime back in with some Day 2 impressions. The wine has given nothing away since last night and, if anything, is even more enjoyable now. The “spice and earth” signature referenced by Jonathan is even more at the forefront than yesterday, and everything seems to have knitted together to make for a more balanced, harmonious wine. I wonder if it might even improve with more age.
If by more wines like Clos Mt. Olivet, you mean more wines that taste just like Clos Mt. Olivet, I don’t know why you want that since you already have Clos Mt. Olivet. If you mean CdPs that are still real CdPs, there are still a number out there. If you mean real CdPs that cost under say $50 a bottle, like Clos Mt. Olivet, the list is shorter but still there: Bois de Boursan’s normal cuvee, Eddie Feraud, Mourre du Tendre, maybe still Pierre Andre. No doubt there are others. And to my mind Charvin, Ferrand and stretching the budget Vieux Telegraphe and Pegau are still worth it. If i were rich, I’d probably feel that way about Rayas, but I’m not.
Well - nothing against Clos Mont-Olivet, I really like the style and buy it regularily - and 2011 is a good wine and a very good effort for the vintage, but 2004 is certainly better IMHO - as is 2009/2010 (only in need of more cellaring) and 2006.
( … just to prevent that the expectations are getting too high … )
For lovers of traditional CdP one should try Bois de Boursan/Jean-Paul Versino … the regular cuvee (not the Felix) is showing up under both designations, the wine is identical, and the 2011 was impressive last september - better than Mont-Olivet IMO.
Yeah, you’re right…and around here I guess we more easily distinguish between “like” and “just like?”
Yes, although under $40 would be even better! And thx for the rec’s. The first 3 on your list I’ve not tasted and will look for. I don’t find Ferrand to be very much like Clos du Mont-Olivet, nor Charvin (especially post-2005…but it’s hard not to love Charvin). Pegau is pretty much out of my pricing comfort zone for CdP, although I did grab some of the 2008. I see VT occasionally offered with decent pricing, might have to grab one and see what’s going on.
Fyi, my frustrations extend further the CdP. It’s hard now to even go grab a bottle of Gigondas or CdR and not find over-ripened flavors or worse, have them combined with new oak…
Gigondas is harder than CdP. In addition to the plague of Cambie, new oak is still quite the rage there. Two of my go tos are Gour de Chaulé and Raspail-Ay, especially when I can find them for more like $25 than more like $30. Despite Cambie’s invovement, I still like St. Damien as well. I dearly wish Domaine la Garrigue would import their Gigondas here but they seem able to sell it all at the domaine and their restaurant, so I just have to drink it there. Their regular cuvee Vacqueyras is still also very good, and usually a good deal, despite Cambie’s presence there. Avoid their upper level cuvee, La Canterelle, at all costs.
Good to know, Don. What do you think about the '06 drink window? Based on my experience with the '04, I was thinking I should hold on to my '06s for a few more years.
![[cheers.gif]](/uploads/db3686/original/2X/0/0ff9bfcdb0964982cd3240b6159868fbdf215b1a.gif "cheers"){kind=small}
