TNs: La Ladonne, Pegau, Delas, Chapoutier, Vieux Telegraphe, Chave, La Mordoree and more

Our dinner group was treated to an exquisite dinning experience in The Bistro at Bacara Resort. With ocean views, the food, service and dinning room ambience was superb and our wine theme of top Northern and Southern Rhone was well represented:

NV PHILIPPE PRIE BRUT ROSE- previous notes are applicable as all is consistent here; this copper red colored delight is loaded with fruit forwardness; in essence, its a creamy strawberry shortcake with a cherry on the top; its crisp, bright and refreshing; made from 80% Pinot Noir, 20% Chardonnay; disgorged 4/13/11; a perfect start for what`s to come.

2006 DOMAINE DU VIEUX TELEGRAPHE “LA CRAU” CDP- made of Clairette, Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, this is simply wonderful; its rich and creamy texture compliments the stone fruit driven qualities that are touched with a tad of toast, caramel and butter; it has good minerality and acidity and a welcomed long finish.

Now we get to the big guns, all brown bagged for us to ID at least the region, if not more and revealed after each flight of 2 or 3.

2000 DOMAINE DU PEGAU CUVEE DE CAPO CDP- unfortunately, it starts off with a Bretty nose, but then it explodes into a major, serious wondrous delight, full of pepper, spice, blueberry, black currant, plum and chocolate which dominate enough to offset the Brett and make this a more than pleasing experience, a rare comment for me to make after a flaw; most agreed, it was a winner.

2005 DELAS SEIGNEUR MAUGIRON COTE ROTIE- another wow factor here; this had some sassafras, cola, cedar and ripe red and black fruit with great acidity; it coated the palate with a soft, creamy lushness and the finish went on forever.

1995 ROBERT MICHEL LA GEYNALE CORNAS- this wine was the first in the 2nd flight and it had us checking to see if we used the same glass as for the Pegau since it was real Bretty; even then, some good things shined through including some pepper and spice amidst the black cherry/ berry fruit, but the Brett in this one dominated well beyond the nose.

2005 M. CHAPOUTIER LA MORDOREE COTE ROTIE- this improved in the glass over time and eventually offered some generous red and black currant, raspberry, minerals and bacon with sprinkles of salt, spice, pepper and talc; nice softness and complexity; I liked this more than some of the others, especially after returning to it an hour later.

2000 CHAVE HERMITAGE- dark, deep purple color; the nose was somewhat muted, but after that some goodness showed up; lots of ripe black currant and berries with spice and pepper all crescendoing on the mid palate and beyond along with a softness that completes the experience.

2003 DOMAINE DE LA MORDOREE CUVEE DE LA REINE DES BOIS CDP- silky smooth, this rocked on with wild black and blue fruit with nice depth and a long finish; many commented on its brininess which was apparent early on and continued throughout.

2007 E. GUIGAL GIGONDAS- badly corked

207 DOMAINE DE LA SOLITUDE CUVEE BARBERINI CDP- the epitome of power and finesse, this is loaded with black cherry/ berry notes making a big statement in its youth; simply wonderful juice that goes on and on and is silky smooth to please even more.

1994 E. GUIGAL LA LANDONNE- 89% Syrah, 11% Viognier; still young in color, this is beautifully balanced and just shined with its pleasant pepper and spicy notes on top of the integrated tannins and smooth texture; I did not want it to end; ready and willing now, it promises to stay around for a while and shine even more; my WOTN before removing the bag.

2007 DOMAINE DU VIEUX TELEGRAPHE “LA CRAU” CDP- big and full bodied, this is replete with concentrated peppered black fruit which seems just a tad closed down and suggests it would have benefitted from being decanted; a star in the making maybe in 5-8 years for its earliest showing.

2003 M. CHAPOUTIER VIN DE PAILLE HERMITAGE- 15% ETOH; gold in color, crème brulee in in texture and taste, this major serious sweetie was a fitting end to another great night with the gang.

Cheers

I’ve had the 2000 Pegau da Capo a few times and it is a great wine. Plus the back label has music written by my friend who started me down this lonely quest for great wine, Don Piestrup. He is one of the finest writers I have ever worked for.

I’ve not seen a back label of da Capo (as I’ve not seen a bottle of da Capo) - I can obviously figure out why there would be music there, as per the name of the wine, but what’s actually written there?? Is it written with da Capo in the staves?

Blake, you’ve been drinking rather well lately…or is this your normal way to roll?

Todd, I do my best to keep it rolling. With a monthly tasting group, monthly luncheon group and a bi-monthly dinner group, it gets easier. And that`s on top of what my wife and I do on a daily basis. Life is good.

Hi Blake, sounds like a very nice evening. I was lucky enough to have had the '94 Guigal La Landonne a couple years ago. Here was my note where it was tasted with about 15 other wines:

1994 E Guigal La Landonne
This was an elegant syrah. I enjoyed the 1991 La Mouline a couple weeks prior and although you can tell that they may be relatives, this wine paled in comparison. Elegant, wonderful mouthfeel and smooth seamless. However, the La Landonne seemed to lack some of the flavor intensity that the “91 had and also the finish seemed to be a bit clipped. There wasn’t that smokey bacon fat bright flavors which I experienced with the ’91 La Mouline. This was a very enjoyable wine and No. 3 for the night for me (No. 5 for my buddy), but I was hoping for more.

It was a wonderful wine, however from your note it looks like I may have taken mine too young. Thanks again for the notes.

Jason

Hi Jason, You and I know there can be a lot of variance in bottle to bottle and that might be the case here. Nonetheless, I loved this one for its balance and mouthfeel along with the notes it provided. It was not a big, in your face wine. It just went on and on with pleasure from the nose through the long finish and I wanted more of it. For me, that`s the testament of quality and class and it was here in spades.