Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend

The back label says 15.5% but I am digging this nonetheless. Nose has spiced dark berry fruit of pristine purity. There’s also a bit of crushed rock and fresh green herbs. In the mouth it’s so deep and flavorful. I don’t think I’d be able to say it’s over 15 if served this blind. Length for days. Delicious.

The ambitious 2005 Châteauneuf-du-Pape evokes a savory aromatic profile that’s defined by earthy scents, tobacco, cured meat, dried blackberry, crushed rocks and leather. Fleshy and forward, the 2005 shows much more evolution than the 2007 does on this encounter. Fine-grained and perfectly integrated tannins structure this outstanding Clos des Papes, comfortably placing it among the wines of the vintage. (Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous, June 2024)

Jammy cut balanced and interesting

Lively acidity here, really vertical and postured for wine and age. Beautiful roasted meat/herb tones, succulent spiced plum and fig components, hauntingly savory and alluring.

Plush and rich. Plum and violet. Tobacco and underbrush. Tasty.

Two bottles opened. Both the same… Regal tawny color. Mostly transparent. Fragrant herbal nose. Notes of ripe red fruit, herbs de Provence, dark dry earth and some fragrant flowers. Well balanced in the mouth. This wine is in a perfect spot, drinking today at peak.

Halfway through a case and best btl yet. Integrated. Smooth. Dry-aged beef and charcoal grilled bacon fat. Stewed strawberry infused with aged balsamic. Undergrowth. Flawless. Profound. Heading towards burgundy.

Dark and intense. Spice and dark wood, a little raisiny. Dark plum, underbrush, spice, black pepper.

Aromas wafted from the bottle as soon as it was opened. Sweet exotic red fruits- pomegranate, herbs and spices- cinnamon, balsam- reminiscent of a Mediterranean bazaar. And for all the seductive sweetness, the purity of the fruit and the acid at the core makes this particularly special.

Best consumed in the first several hours of opening when perfume is most intense.

Fully mature and integrated CNDP, it’s heavily spiced, earth-driven, progressed fruit framed by savory elements. Prune, stewed cherry, strawberry confiture, tobacco, leather, forest soil, hung meat, cinnamon, dried herbs.