Southern Rhône
Domaine du Pegau
Cuvée Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 1990
Domaine Jean-Louis Chave
L'Hermitage Syrah 2018
Splash decanted immediately before service; enjoyed over the course of an hour. The 2018 pours a deep ruby/purple color with an opaque core; medium+ viscosity with significant staining of the tears and some sediment. On the nose, the wine is developing with gorgeous notes of blackberry, fig, black pepper, bacon fat, lavender, aromatic wood resin, warm spices and minerals. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is long. This is already an absolute banger and hides its 15% alcohol as well as any wine I have ever encountered. I almost gasped when I saw the ABV on the label because I couldn’t believe it. This is beautifully balanced, and I feel privileged to try this wine in its relative youth. Drink now with a splash decant and through 2052+. Bottle No. 15902. — 5 days ago
Famille Perrin
Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend
2021—too young, so somewhat unbalanced. Will save other bottles. — 23 days ago
Château de Beaucastel
Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 1988
Super clean and still quite youthful, this is a GREAT example of a 1980s CdP from a vintage of little surmaturite, so awesome balance and perfect acidity suggests this vintage will easily last another 5-10 years!! — 2 days ago
E. Guigal
Château d'Ampuis Côte-Rôtie Syrah 2015
94-95
This was one of the wines I served for my annual WWC hosting. All wines served blind.
93 syrah/ 7 viognier
The third syrah in my lineup was a wine I've enjoyed a few times over the last five years. Bangin' vintage and in a style I enjoy (syrah and vio). Purple-black in the glass, it offers up killer aromatics of rich, dark fruit, some baking spice, and smoked meat. Even with nearly four hours, this was a monster in structure with tannin that paired beautifully with an herb crusted lamb rack. Powerful on the palate with smoked berries, bacon, espresso, vanilla and a savory finish. Still on the upswing with lots of wonderful Cote-Rotie fireworks in store. Wish I had another! — 21 minutes ago
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
Télégramme Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2021
2021 vintage. Medium/medium-heavy body. Promising nose with fruit, spice and tobacco. Has dropped much of the baby fat of youth and transitioning into the surly teen years. Richness-front palate. Fruit in the mid-palate. Structure, spices and a gorgeous, savory note akin to comparably aged Côte-Rôtie. Hard to push away from now and on the come. The new Coravin CDP rouge at $40 a glass. 5.7.26. — 12 days ago
Domaine Auguste Clape
Cornas Syrah 1997
First pour of this and I was like, “uh-oh”. It was clearly full of flaws (Brettanomyces, VA and maaaaybe some slight TCA) but would they be too much to appreciate the wine? Only time would tell so into the decanter it went. After a lot of air, it became clear this was Brett and VA. The wine pours a deep ruby/purple with a near opaque core; medium viscosity with moderate staining of the tears. On the nose, the wine is developing (still) with notes of blackberries, umeboshi, animale, purple flowers, black pepper, red Flintstone vitamin, horse blanket, wood varnish, and sous bois. On the palate, the wine is dry with medium+ tannin and medium+ acid. Confirming the notes from the nose. The finish is medium+. An elegant, complicated bottle. This is my second time with the 1997 vintage and due to the flaws, a different adventure than previous. That being said, this decidedly grumpy, Burgundian expression of Clape’s Cornas paired really well with the dry-aged steaks. Drink now, with a lot of patience, through 2037? — 9 days ago
Doug Powers
Another absolutely fabulous older CdP, I saw @Jay Kline’s excellent tasting note from a few years ago on the 1990 (thanks for the info, @Jay Kline!!), this is amazing, amazingly a little better than the 1989 Beaucastel, what a trio of 1988-1990 CdPs!!! — 2 days ago