Due to the success of the recent 1997 Barolo and Barbaresco tasting that Rico put together last year (http://dat.erobertparker.com/bboard/showthread.php?t=149573), I decided to try this with my favorite region and see how the vintage as a whole was holding up. As opposed to focusing on the top wines, the goal was to sample a fairly broad selection of wines across both producers and styles… Modern, traditional, single cuvees, special cuvees… you name it.

Starter Whites

We had some seriously bad luck with corked bottles early on and the only good thing is that it wasn’t the more expensive wines… Still, 4 corked bottles out of 18 (22%) isn’t looking too pretty. Despite the TCA, the 1999 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc La Cra was enjoyable and showed rich fruit and a creamy texture. The 2006 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc was bright, vibrant and gorgeous with some serious nut and wood notes.

• 1999 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Despite some underlying TCA, this wine displayed beautiful honeysuckle and floral fruit, a killer, medium to full bodied palate, great texture and a clean, long finish. NR (flawed)
• 2006 Le Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Very bright, fresh and expressive, this has a floral and honeyed fruit driven nose that is backed up by minerals and a rich nuttiness that is striking. Medium to full bodied, this is well balanced, textured and clean. This improved with air and has a clean, medium to long finish. (90 pts.)
• 2001 Château de Beaucastel Côtes du Rhône Coudoulet de Beaucastel Blanc - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
  Corked. NR (flawed)

Flight #1

I’ve yet to have a sound bottle of the 1998 Domaine des Saumades Châteauneuf-du-Pape (a previous bottle was oxidized as well) so I don’t know what to think of this producer. The second corked bottle did seem to have decent fruit hiding under the TCA so maybe a good bottle would show well. The first bottle of 1998 Domaine St. Benoit Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grande Garde was slightly suspect and displayed some serious funk at first. With air though, it was extremely interesting and simply seemed more evolved than the second bottle we opened of the same. The 1998 Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf-du-Pape was easily the wine of the flight and was a beautiful wine. Seemingly modern with a graphite and vanilla note, this was drinking well and was delicious.

• 1998 Domaine des Saumades Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Corked. NR (flawed)
• 1998 Domaine des Saumades Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Continuing the string of bad bottles from this producer, this was corked. NR (flawed)
• 1998 Château de la Gardine Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A stunning bottle, this is packed with rich black cherry and cassis laced fruit, graphite, smoke and earth aromas. The palate is medium bodied with a smooth, balanced texture, clean, pure fruit and subtle tannins on the long finish. While this is drinking extremely well, I wouldn’t be afraid to hold this wine longer either. (92 pts.)
• 1998 Domaine St. Benoit Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grande Garde - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  The first in two bottles, this bottle had a suspect cork but still displayed a sound, evolved character. The nose offers up some serious sauvage and earthy, gamey notes but with air, this really cleans up and has a mature, forest floor, spiced meat and dusty cherry fruit character. The palate is medium bodied with a smooth, soft texture, nice balance and a medium length finish with some still kicking tannins. (87 pts.)
• 1998 Domaine St. Benoit Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grande Garde - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  The second of two bottles, this was strikingly more youthful and showed fresh, pure dark cherry fruit, sauvage, pepper, and spice aromas. Medium bodied, this wine has considerable structured and shows rich fruit and a tannic, long finish. (91 pts.)

Flight #2

Both of these wines were outstanding. It’s interesting that Parker states that Clos Saint Jean underperformed in this vintage and I’m not sure if he’s talking about this wine or if they released their other cuvees and they didn’t show well. Either way, this is the second bottle of the 1998 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape I’ve had and I’m a fan. Rich, ripe and with a slightly roasted, chocolaty character, it’s drinking well and seems capable of lasting another 10 years. The 1998 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Mourre des Perdrix elicited some interesting commentary with some calling it simple. I like the wine a lot and thought it seemed young and slightly closed. Both of these wines were well structured and showed some tannic grip on the finish.

• 1998 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A rich, herb, spice and chocolate laced wine that possesses a slightly roasted fruit profile. Rich and full bodied, this has great fruit, outstanding texture and a long finish with mild tannins. (92 pts.)
• 1998 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Mourre des Perdrix - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Showing very tight and young, this has concentrated and pure fruit with a compact, structured personality. Medium to full bodied, this has nice precision and a tannic, long finish. (91 pts.)

Flight #3

A noticeable step up from the previous flights, these wines were all superb. The 1998 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau showed a rich, burly character to go along with a slight brine and salty flavor note where as the 1998 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape was simply singing. Easily the best bottle of this I’ve had to date and where the previous bottles have always come off as tight and reticent, this baby was firing on all cylinders. Expressive, rich, complex and a joy to drink. The 1998 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape was noticeably different than the others and showed a lighter, transparent red color. More reminiscent of a perfectly mature burgundy, this was silky, seductive and nuanced. Showing the silkiest texture of the night and just begging to be gulped down, the burgundy expert of the group immediately fell in love with this wine.

• 1998 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A rustic, burly wine that displays nice garrigue, hot stone, licorice and seaweed notes on the big and rich nose. Medium to full bodied, this shows considerable structure and power with ripe fruit and a coarse, slightly rustic texture. Medium tannins show up on the finish. (93 pts.)
• 1998 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A stunning Beaucastel that shows the typical gamey, earthy and garrigue laced Beaucastel notes but also amazingly pure, concentrated fruit. Medium to full bodied, this is perfectly built and shows ripe, concentrated fruit, awesome precision, texture and length. This has a seamlessness and ripeness level that is reminiscent of the 1990. (96 pts.)
• 1998 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  Seemingly more like a mature burgundy than a Chateauneuf, this displays a transparent red color as well as a gorgeously sweet bouquet of cherry, spice, clove, black tea and earth scents. It builds in the mouth and is medium bodied, silky, textured and impeccably balanced with a long finish. This is delicate, nuanced and drinking perfectly. (94 pts.)

Flight #4

These two wines, like the following flight, really highlighted the different styles of the region and the contrast between the 1998 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin and the more traditionally made 1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence was striking. The Chaupin really showed its modern side and the vanilla and graphite notes were almost overpowering at first. With air though, this continued to open up and gained both complexity and slightly more typicity. The Pegau showed the typical, meaty, burly Pegau profile as well as amazing structure, killer acidity and a mouth filling texture.

• 1998 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A big, modern styled wine that displays a rich, smoke and vanilla laced nose of cassis and blackberry fruit mixed with graphite, wax and earth aromas. The palate is medium to full bodied with a full, weighty texture, pure fruit and nice balance. With air, the slightly monolithic vanilla and graphite notes receded and this picked up complexity and richness. This has a long finish and with air, is drinking extremely well. (94 pts.)
• 1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A fantastic wine, this is a big, structured Pegau that gives up meaty, spicy and earthy aromatics to go along with some fantastic Grenache fruit aromas. Full bodied, structured and with awesome fruit and acidity, this stuff is amazing and shows killer length on the finish. (96 pts.)

Flight #5

Another flight that really emphasized the different styles that the region is capable of; In my opinion, these two wines epitomized the best of each style. Both of these were opened roughly 5 hours prior to the tasting and upon first opening, the 1998 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul was open and ready to go while the 1998 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de la Reine des Bois was backwards and severely tannic. I quickly recorked the Mon Aieul but stuck the Mordoree in a decanter for an hour before pouring it back into the bottle until the tasting. Overall, I couldn’t decide which wine I preferred and loved both of these. The Mordoree was definitely not your typical Chateauneuf and showed a modern, fruit and wood driven bouquet to go along with an absolutely massive, structured and dense palate. Just perfect in the mouth, this has awesome fruit and is beautifully balanced. The Usseglio Mon Aieul seemed like the essence of Grenache and Chateauneuf-du-Pape to me. Showing the expected herbs and garrigue slant, this has stunning fruit, awesome concentration and perfect balance.

• 1998 Domaine de la Mordorée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de la Reine des Bois - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  This wine is definitely not your typical Chateauneuf and has a blockbuster nose of cassis, blackberry, smoke, graphite, vanilla and coffee aromas. With air, ripe herb aromas show up, giving you a hint that this is a southern Rhône red. The palate is perfect with huge fruit sitting on top of some amazing structure. Very full bodied, this is structured, perfectly balanced and amazingly long on the finish. (98 pts.)
• 1998 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
  A borderline perfect wine for me, this shows plenty of southern Rhône typicity but is jacked up with amazingly concentrated fruit and serious structure. The nose shows beautiful garrigue, raspberry, earth, spice and licorice notes and with air, this picked up a darker, richer profile. The palate is full bodied, perfectly balanced and possesses huge fruit and a blockbuster, tannic finish. (98 pts.)

Dessert wines

We finished up with an impressive Kracher Trockenbeerenauslese (I don’t recall the vintage, calling Ben.. or Paul. or someone.. ) and a knockout 1987 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Quinta de Vargellas.

• 1987 Taylor (Fladgate) Porto Vintage Quinta de Vargellas - Portugal, Douro, Porto
  Stunning stuff that possesses a knockout nose of rich, spicy fruit, dried flowers, cedar and earth notes. Full bodied with great texture, serious structure, impeccable balance and a long finish.

Since I didn’t taste these wines on release, it’s hard to make any comments regarding aging but I will say that these came off as young, ripe and structured. The group consensus (which I’m not sure I agree with) was that the standard cuvee’s are early maturing and/or should be drunk up. Nothing in these wines gave me that impression but there were comments regarding the tannins being drying and I do admit, these wines show plenty of tannin and overall structure. I think they have more than enough fruit to handle this though. All of these seemed to be drinking extremely well and there’s not a one that I see huge upside too, and I don’t mean that as a negative either. These are stunning wines that are very enjoyable now.

Another outstanding time with the Fort Collins crowd.

All wines were tasted blind.

White flight

While the 2004 E. Guigal Crozes-Hermitage Blanc would be excellent on its own, the character and depth of the 2005 Pierre Coursodon St. Joseph Blanc made it seem simple and straightforward.

• 2005 Domaine Coursodon St. Joseph Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
  A gorgeous wine that possesses a big, exotic nose of toasted bread, marzipan, cream and floral notes. The palate is full bodied with a fat, lush texture, low acidity and a clean, long finish. Impressive stuff. (92 pts.)
• 2004 E. Guigal Crozes-Hermitage Blanc - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
  Crisp, clean and slightly restrained, this gives up citrus, mineral and floral aromatics. The palate is medium bodied with a smooth, easy drinking texture and a medium length finish. Very clean, straightforward and enjoyable. (87 pts.)

Red flight 1

The 1999 Ridge Syrah Lytton Estate was stunning and certainly pulled off the northern rhone character to me. It was definitely ripe but the earthiness and meaty character had me guessing that it was a 2003 Northern Rhone. Paired next to the two riper, bigger wines, the 2000 Delas Frères Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes was at a disadvantage and while it improved with air, it never lost that slight weedy character. The 2005 Jean-Luc Colombo Cornas Les Terres Brulees was extremely ripe but mellowed out as it sat in the glass and was really pretty impressive.

• 1999 Ridge Syrah Lytton Estate - USA, California, Sonoma County, Dry Creek Valley
  Same bottle as Rob’s note and his description is spot on. This bottle was stunning and showed awesome ripe fruit to go along with a earthy, meaty streak that made this seem very northern Rhone’ish. Cassis, blackberry and roasted spice aromas are backed up by smoke, meat and subtle gamey notes on the nose. The palate matches the intensity of the nose and is medium to full bodied, ripe, lush and perfectly balanced. Subtle tannins show up on the long finish. An outstanding bottle of wine. (93 pts.)
• 2000 Delas Frères Crozes-Hermitage Les Launes - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
  This wasn’t very impressive at first and came off borderline green and weedy but over the course of the evening, it continued to flesh out and pick up weight. The aromatics are high-toned with bright red fruit, bramble, smoke and mineral notes that lead into a medium bodied, high acid palate. There’s sweet fruit, medium concentration and a medium length finish. (86 pts.)
• 2005 Jean-Luc Colombo Cornas Les Terres Brulees - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
  A very ripe, modern styled wine that shows massive black pepper, exotic spice, dark fruit and vanilla notes on the nose. The palate possess plenty of sweet, concentrated fruit, impressive balance and a long finish with ripe tannins. This improved with air. (91 pts.)

Red flight 2

Two great wines. The 2003 Alain Voge Cornas Vieilles Vignes was ripe, balanced, soft and just extremely easy drinking where as the 2003 E. Guigal Crozes-Hermitage showed more complexity and precision, albeit, not drinking quite as well.

• 2003 Alain Voge Cornas Vieilles Vignes - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
  A great wine that shows ripe, slightly roasted fruit notes that are mixed with cedar, flowers, spiced meat and wood aromas. The palate is outstanding and has plenty of ripe, rich fruit, decent acidity and a killer lush texture. Everything is well balanced and subtle, ripe tannins show up on the long finish where this picks up a milk chocolate edge. This is surprisingly soft and easy going. I double decanted this wine 4 hours before the tasting and actually thought it showed more complexity right after opening and seemed slightly simple later in the evening. (92 pts.)
• 2003 E. Guigal Crozes-Hermitage - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Crozes-Hermitage
  Unique and complex on the nose with an earthy, dark fruit and tapenade slant. White pepper, funk, tar and violet notes all show up and this continued to improve with air. The palate is medium to full bodied and possesses impressive concentration, nice balance, a precise texture and a medium to long finish. Glad to have more of these! (91 pts.)

Red flight 3

I’m all for acidity, but the 2006 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph Offerus was too much and I almost question the bottle. I actually thought I liked the 2000 Jean-Luc Colombo Cornas Les Terres Brulees more than the 2005 from the previous flight but when I compared them side by side later in the evening, I preferred the 2005. Still, the 2000 seemed incredibly young and had rich, decadent fruit.

• 2006 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph Offerus - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, St. Joseph
  While this showed interesting and enjoyable aromatics, the palate had so much acidity that I felt like I was bitting into a lemon. The nose has some nice complexity and shows tobacco, leather and earth notes but also a slight citrus component that carried over into the palate. Medium bodied with sweet fruit, this has excessive levels of acidity that turn the finish slightly sour. This did improve with air and might have benefited from a decant. (83 pts.)
• 2000 Jean-Luc Colombo Cornas Les Terres Brulees - France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Cornas
  Surprisingly young, this was delicious and had a ripe and straightforward character. The nose showed rich, almost decadent dark fruit notes of cassis and blackberry mixed with spice, vanilla and chocolate aromas. The palate is medium to full bodied with ripe fruit, a lush, fat texture, and a long finish. Balanced, smooth and fun to drink. Compared next to the 2005, this seemed to lack a little acidity and precision. (90 pts.)