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A Tale of Two Thalaberts
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2003 Paul Jaboulet Aine Crozes Hermitage Domaine de
Thalabert, $25.99 13.5% alc.: Dark garnet in color, but that’s where
the resemblance with the ’95 ends. This one exudes a huge over-ripe
nose that more resembles something from Australia or California than
anything we’ve ever come across from Crozes Hermitage; it’s almost
Turley-esque, with its big red berries and plums, all gussied up with
a big whack of oak. Not quite as ripe in the mouth, but still plenty
ripe, with an earthy core, and again, a lot of oak that doesn’t quite
obscure the good tannins and acids. There’s plenty of promise for
development here, just like with a good new world GSM, but this really
presents a sad state of affairs for Domaine de Thalabert to have come to
this, especially after the fine, fine ’95 three nights before. I’m not
sure I’d call it a travesty, since it is somewhat enjoyable if you
forget where it comes from, and it did seem to conjure enough mojo to
contribute to a big Wings comeback victory over the Chicago Blackhawks,
but it’s not a wine I’ll buy again anytime soon. Find this wine 2000 Domaine du Monteillet Saint – Joseph Cuveé du Papy, $34.98, 13% alc.: This dark garnet Syrah is one of those “bacon” wines that was recommended to Kim at Morgan and York in Ann Arbor, and it did indeed show a note of that pork product over middleweight dark plums, prunes and berries, along with some obligatory garrigue and a hint of rhubarb. Air really helps this, not so much for the fruit to open, but rather for the wild herbs to assert themselves more and more, and it finishes with good length. The only thing I don’t like about this wine is the price; I simply think that $25 or so would be more realistic, for what’s in the bottle. Find this wine Imported by Weygandt – Metzler, Unionville, PA  2001 Philippe Faury Saint – Joseph, $26, 13% alc.: Another “bacon” wine
from Morgan and York, this ruby dark garnet offers black plums and
berries accented with herbs and violets, a bit of the barnyard and some
soft leather, along with the charcuterie, of course. Medium full bodied,
with medium – plus intensity, moderate tannins and acidity and decent
length, this isn’t a deep, dark, brooding Syrah, but rather a pretty
middleweight that should continue to improve over the next three to five
years. Find this wineImported by Kermit Lynch, Wine Merchant, Berkeley, CA 2002 Charles & Francois Tardy Crozes - Hermitage Domaine des Entrefaux, $15.99, 12.5% alc.: Dark garnet, fading to pink at the rim, this Syrah is very dry, and pleasantly so, offering up leathery red currant and prune, with a note of old wood. It features moderate tannins and medium intensity, and while it’s not terribly complex, it has a nice presence and personality, and pairs well with wine braised short ribs with goat cheese mashed potatoes. Sometimes, less is more. Find this wine Imported by Kysela Pere et Fils, Ltd., Winchester, VA 1995 Domaine du Cayron Gigondas, 14 % alc.: At 10 years of age, this old friend has never tasted better, and best of all, it’s still on the way up, showing no rust as of yet to its dark garnet color, fading to pink at the rim, and that’s only the eye candy. Big flavors and aromas of earthy, smoky cola over red and black cherries, berries and plums are shaded with some iron and saddle leather, and while there’s still at least five years worth of tannins to mellow here, it’s drinking so nicely now, being both lovely and powerful at the same time, with a long earthy finish. I daresay, this could be mistaken for a Châteauneuf du Pape in a blind tasting, and as is so often the case with these critters, it just keeps getting better and better with air. We still have a few of these left, so we’ll do our damnedest to keep our hands off for a few more years. Wish us luck. Find this wine Imported by Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant, Berkely, CA 2001 Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf du Pape, $40.99, 13.5% alc.: We’ve been fans of this Domaine for some time now, and this ruby dark garnet is not only one of the most approachable young Bois de Boursans in our experience, it’s one of the best wines of any kind that we’ve had in the last several months. It exudes smoky plums and berries, some cola and a subtle perfumed element on the nose, all of which follows through on the palate with added spice, earth, mineral and that distinctly Bois de Boursan personality that has attracted so many devotees over the years. It shows excellent structure and length, and while its best days are ahead of it (five, eight or even more years), it’s drinking so well already, being remarkably smooth at only four years of age. Like so many of these, it opens and opens in the glass, evoking a real “sense of place,” and reminds me once again why these are not only some of our favorite wines from Châteauneuf du Pape, these are some of our very favorite wines from anywhere in the world. Our colleague Canadian Zinfan seems to have con-Kerred with our assessment... Find this wine Imported by J et R Selections, Mount Pleasant, MI  2002 Domaine du Pegau Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Réservée, $28.99, 13.5%
alc: Because of the difficult vintage, this ruby dark garnet was the
only Châteauneuf du Pape that Domaine du Pegau produced, and all things
considered, it’s a pretty successful effort. It doesn’t show much on the
nose at first, but extended swirlatude brings out that smoky, earthy
plum and berry Pegau thing, all of which is echoed and amplified on the
palate, where it also displays a distinctly sun baked character, along
with an almost candied aspect. Not a Pegau Light by any means, but it
does lack some of the depth that these normally have. It has the
structure for at least five years of improvement, but it’s drinking well
already, and the price tag is a lot less than the previous vintage’s
$61. Find this wineImported by J et R Selections, Mount Pleasant, MI 1998 Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf du Pape, $49.99, 13.5% alc.: Smoky dark garnet in color, with just a hint of rust; not much on the nose at first, but plenty of rich dark plums and berries, shaded with a little smoke, earth and mineral. With air, some slightly funky, musty forest floor emerges to add some interest and character. This has a nice density to it, and a certain sun-baked quality to it as well, and while it’s drinking well now, it has the structure and stuffing to improve for at least another three – five years. It’s not a great CdP, but it’s a pretty good one; still, I’m glad I got a significant discount, because it’s not a $50 wine, IMNSHO. Find this wine  2000 Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf du Pape, $36.99, 13.5% alc.: Dark
garnet in color, with a tight nose giving grudging earth, briar –
bramble and a little smoke; it fleshes out on the palate with peppery
red and black plums and berries, good length and at least three to five
years worth of tannins. It’s a good wine, but it’s not as deep, dark and
intense as the ’98, and like the ’98, seems overpriced for what’s in the
bottle. Find this wineChâteau de la Gardine imported by Bercut-Vandervoort & Co., San Francisco, CA 2001 Château Fortia Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée du Baron, $38.99, 14% alc.: Slightly gamy, smoky dark plums and berries make for a pleasant perfume with this ruby dark garnet Châteauneuf, and these carry over onto the palate with a solid, earthy core and some leathery nuances lurking in the background, all on a medium full to full bodied frame. This is drinking pretty well, despite the obvious structure that should take it to its 10th birthday and beyond, but it seems to be lacking a little on the mid-palate and finish. Apparently, this was a first time cuvée, made from the best selection of the estate’s fruit (Bobbie Parker intimates in his 92 Point review that it contained considerably more Syrah than the usual 80% Grenache, 16% Mourvedre, and 4% Syrah blend), so maybe it’s just at an awkward point in its development, because, while it impresses us as being a good wine, it’s nothing special, and certainly overpriced at the inflated Michigan tariff. Jury’s still out on this one. Find this wine Imported by Wines of France, Inc., Mountainside, NJ 1999 Louis Bernard Châteauneuf du Pape, $19.99, 13.5% alc.: We liked this pretty well when we tried it back in 2002, so I put a few down to see how they’d fare with some time in the cellar. It’s still a deep, dark garnet, with nary a hint of rust, offering something like smoky black currant, black cherry, soy sauce and Rock ‘n’ Rye cola on the nose, along with some earthy, funky undertones; there’s also a vague hint of maderization, but that gradually dissipates. Quite dense on the palate, the flavors echo the aromatics loudly, with even more earth, more smoky overtones, a little more soy sauce and yes, a hint of something ever-so-slightly sherried, or maderized, like oxidized iron, but again, that latter aspect gradually disappears, leaving a deep, dark, dense mouthful of wine. There’re still tannins to burn off here, but with air, it drinks pretty well, especially with some grilled haunch of beast, with a reasonably long finish. Not a great Châteauneuf du Pape, by any means, but certainly a good one, with some interesting characteristics. I’ll wait at least a few more years to try the last one down in the cellar from heck to see how it develops. Find this wine  1999 Domaine de L’Oratoire St. Martin Cairanne Côtes du Rhône Villages
Réserve des Seigneurs, $12.99, 13.5% alc.: We really liked the
2000 version of this wine when we tried it during the 2002 Stanley
Cup championship drive, so finding this one at
Village Corner
in Ann Arbor recently was quite a surprise. A slightly rusty, somewhat
cloudy dark garnet colored southern Rhône, this one shows some barnyard
and leather over stewed prunes on the nose, with some decaying
vegetation lurking; big, earthy, rich black plums, currants and berries
come to the fore in the mouth, with some tarry undertones,
big structure and a lengthy finish. It opens with air to lose some of
the funk on the nose, taking on an unmistakably smoky character, as do
the flavors, which also develop more leather. With extended air, this
really opens and becomes more and more drinker friendly, but it’s still
on the way up, with at least three or four years of improvement ahead of
it. Great QPR here; wines this good at this price are a treasure. Find this wineImported by J et R Selections, Mount Pleasant, MI Reporting from Day-twah, Bastardo
Other Recent Rhône Explorations Red Wings and Red Rhônes: The Boys Are Back In Town! Back to Red Wings and Red Rhône 2005-06 Index
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fter
completing their best month of October in their storied franchise
history, the
