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1998 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf du Pape, $38.99, 14%alc.: Ruby dark garnet, with a hint of rust; effusive nose of smoke, leather, earth and overripe, but not quite rotting dark berries and plums, offering a gorgeous, almost decadent perfume that carries over on the palate with more earth, providing a solid center. Despite drinking well already, with a long earthy finish, this has all the considerable structure and depth to improve over at least the next five years, and it’s more traditionally styled than the following wine. Kim was most enthusiastic about this, as was I, but I wouldn’t open another for at least three years. It’ll only get better. |
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2000 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf du Pape, $34.99, 14%alc.: Smoky
dark garnet, showing a big, ripe, smoky character, accentuating more
black and red berries than plums, and even some black cherries. Not as
dense or as tannic as the ’98; there’s an almost Californian ripeness to
this, but it still gives that unmistakable CdP profile, and there are
other things going on as well, like the earthy core and a nice note of
garrigue that emerges with air. Very smooth in the mouth, yet with
deceptive structure that promises a minimum of 3 – 5 years of
improvement, and like the ’98, so good that Kim actually watched hockey
with me while continuing to pay compliments to both wines. Clos des Papes Châteauneuf du Pape imported by Wines of France, Inc., Mountainside, NJ  2000 Clos de L’Oratoire des Papes Châteauneuf du Pape, 80% Grenache,
10% Syrah, 10% Cinsault & Mourvedre, $39.99, 14% alc.: Ruby dark
garnet, with a slightly smoky tinge; mostly barnyard on the nose
initially, but opens over time to show big earthy underbrush – garrigue
and leather over dark plums and berries. Flavors echo loudly, but this
only starts to open after 45 minutes to an hour, continuing to give more
smoke, leather and garrigue, along with some decaying vegetative forest
floor, and yes, even fruit, fleshing out over the three hours that the
wine lasted. While it’s certainly approachable (give it a few hours in a
decanter if you must), it really begs for another 5 – 8 years, so wait,
it’ll be worth the patience. 2000 Caves des Papes Gigondas Oratorio, 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre, $30.99, 14% alc.: Ruby dark garnet from rim to rim; the oak is obvious, but not overbearing on the nose, along with plenty of sweet, spicy cinnamon, ripe red berries and black cherries. The oak (new demi – muids and casks, according to the back label) is even more apparent on the palate, imparting a creamy quality that obscures any not – so – obvious earthy undertones, not to mention any leather or cola, much less garrigue; it also disguises the ample structure some, morphing into a creamy vanilla with air. You could drop this into a blind tasting, and I daresay, more would suggest that it’s a New World wine than Olde, but it’s a nice New World styled wine. Just keep in mind that, as I’ve said of some others, this is NOT your father’s Gigondas; even the ’99 Oratorio we tried a few years back showed more earth and leather. It did go quite well with a 6-3 drubbing of the Calgary Flames, though… Imported by Cannon Wines Ltd., San Francisco, CA  2000 Domaine du Galet des Papes Châteauneuf du Pape Tradition, $32.99
(DI), 14% alc.: Ruby dark garnet, with a slightly
smoky tinge; stingy on the nose, but a big blast of earth, old wood,
smoke and cola upfront on the palate. Black currant,
blackberry and black plum form a solid fruit core under the more dominant
(at this point) characteristics, with big structure on a
full bodied frame. Earthy finish lingers on and on, as it continues to
slowly open in the glass. Even after being uncorked eight
to ten hours earlier, this is still very tannic, and only hinting at
what will develop with another ten years or more, but there’s an
awful lot of promise here. Excellent Châteauneuf du Pape for those with
patience and tannin pigs alike, and some great Red
Rhône mojo!Imported by New Castle Imports, Inc., Myrtle Beach, SC  2001 Domaine de la Tourade Vacqueyras, 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10%
Mourvedre, $18.50, 14% alc.: The ruby garnet
color belies the size of the wine; it’s not huge, but it certainly is a
substantial, earthy, traditionally styled Vacqueyras that’s
refreshing after the previous evening’s Oratorio. It’s all about earthy
sticks and underbrush over chewy, chunky, leathery cola
nut and some other stuff that’s hard to compare to any plums or berries
that I know of. It’s Vacqueyras, dammit, it’s
supposed to taste like that! OK, with a period of hockey, it does start
to open and show something like dark plums and
berries, but all the other “terroir” is still coming on strong, making
this everything that the Oratorio isn’t, and look at the
difference in price. The wine cuts a nice broad swath across the palate
without being overbearing or oppressive, showing good
structure and length, drinking well now, and even better in three to
five years. In short, it’s what we’ve come to expect from
J.C. Mathes and
J et R Selections over the past decade or more, and a
worthy companion to the
2000 Domaine de la Tourade
Gigondas we tried some months back. From 80 – year – old Grenache and 20
– year – old Mourvedre & Syrah vines;
fermented for 15+ days in cement with pumpover once or twice a day,
then, aged for 15-18 months in old oak barrels and
bottled unfiltered.
Imported by J et R Selections, Mt. Pleasant, MI Reporting from Day-twah, Bastardo
Other Recent Rhône Explorations Back to Red Wings and Red Rhône 2005 Index
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had been over 15 months since the
