Domaine de Cristia

2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes Blanc (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A superb Rhone white, the 2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes Blanc offers up deep, rich aromas of tropical fruit, toasted almonds, spice and honey comb that lead into a medium to full bodied palate. Balanced and with nice acidity, this has a full, mouth filling texture and a long finish. (92 pts.)

2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A blend of 90% Grenache and 10% Syrah, the 2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape possesses a big, Grenache driven bouquet of purple fruits, fresh raspberries, licorice and mineral notes that show nice lift paired with plenty of richness. In the mouth the wine is medium to full bodied with soft, lush fruit, impressive richness and plenty of length. Drink this beauty over the following 10 to 12 years. (91 pts.)

2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Sporting a deep, opaque purple color, the 2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes is 100% old vine Grenache and sees only old wood (2 and 3 year old barrels.) The nose is open and lush with smoky blackberry and cassis fruit aromas mixed with raw meat, licorice and earthy notes. While certainly complex, this is a hedonistic dream and the palate is full bodied, stunningly rich, decadent and very long. (98 pts.)

2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A blend of 60% Grenache (from 100 to 110 year old vines) and 40% Mourvedre, the 2007 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance is very dark and rich with cassis, meat, and vanilla aromas, full body, stunning purity and serious precision. In complete contrast to the open and lush Vieille Vignes bottling, this shows a much more dense and structured personality (but more edge and precision) and warrants cellar time. Give this a couple years and then drink over the following 20. (96+ pts.)

2006 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
The 2006 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Syrah and 5% Mourvedre and possesses clean, complex aromas of licorice, blackberry, leather and garrigue. Medium bodied in the mouth with sweet fruit, impressive balance and a smooth texture. Drinking well now, this should easily last for 10 to 12 years. (91 pts.)

2006 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
One of the top 2006s, the Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieille Vignes possesses notes of dark, earthy fruit, meat and minerals, full body, sweet fruit, great balance and a fantastic texture. More precise and streamlined than both the ’05 and ’07, this should drink beautifully over the next 15+ years. (95 pts.)

I’m in the process of entering all of the notes from the trip into the database…  but it’s taking some time.  So in the mean while, I’ll post the updates as I complete them.  Once all of the notes are in, I plan on creating an adobe .pdf version that contains additional info as well as photos.

Domaine de la Janasse

2008 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tradition Blanc (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A beautiful Rhone Blanc, the 2008 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Tradition Blanc is a blend of 50% Grenache Blanc, 25% Roussanne and 25% Clairette that’s vinified in barrel (80% new with lees stirring for the first 7 months) and shows minerals, smoky earth, peach and subtle oak notes that carry in to the finish. Balanced, clean and with impressive acidity, this should drink beautifully over the next couple of years. (90 pts.)

2008 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Blanc (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône)
Floral, honeyed and easy drinking, the 2008 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Blanc (A blend of 50 % Grenache Blanc, 15% Clairette, 15% Bourboulenc, 10% Viognier, 10% Roussanne from sandy soils) is medium bodied with a fat, soft texture and a clean finish. Drink over the next year or two. (87 pts.)

2008 Domaine de la Janasse Viognier Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange)
The 2008 Domaine de la Janasse Viognier Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange shows complex, nuanced aromas of white flowers, spice, bread dough and tropical fruit. Medium bodied in the mouth, it’s a fat, soft and textured wine to drink over the near term. (87 pts.)

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Prestige (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A blend of 70% Roussanne, 15% Grenache Blanc (more than 60 years old) and 15% Clairette (more than 60 years) that sees 14 months in barrique, the serious 2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Prestige possesses a white Burgundy like personality with buttery oak and vanilla aromas being supported by fantastic, ripe, clean and mineral laced fruit. Medium to full bodied in the mouth, this has beautiful precision, rich, ripe fruit and a long, textured finish. I don’t know how this will age but the recommendation from the domaine is to cellar for the short term and then drink over the following 5+ years. A beautiful wine! (92 pts.)

2006 Domaine de la Janasse Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange Terre de Bussière (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange)
Showing noticeable herbaceous notes (a blend of 55% Merlot, 25% Syrah, 10% Grenache and 10% Cabernet), the 2006 Domaine de la Janasse Vin de Pays de la Principauté d’Orange Terre de Bussière has plum and cassis fruit, medium body, a soft texture and some rustic tannin on the finish. This is a perfect picnic wine to drink over the next year or two. (85 pts.)

2008 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône)
A blend of 50% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, 15% Carignan and 5% Cinsault, the 2008 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône shows nice, slightly jammy aromatics of crushed berries, raspberries, spice and earth that carry into a medium bodied palate. Clean, balanced and with nice freshness, this lacks some mid-palate fat but still has a lot to like. Drink over the short term. (87 pts.)

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Villages Terre d’Argile (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages)
A stunning wine, the 2007 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Villages Terre d’Argile is a blend of equal parts Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre with the Syrah and Mourvèdre both being aged in new barrique and the Grenache seeing only vat. The wine possesses an upfront, perfumed character with blackberries and cassis fruit, meat, vanilla and earth notes literally jumping from the glass. Medium bodied on the palate, the wine possesses fantastic, ripe fruit, a silky, textured mouth feel and a long, rich finish. This should drink beautifully over the next 10 to 15 years. (92 pts.)

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Les Garrigues (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône)
Surpassing any number of Chateauneuf du Papes, the 100% Grenache, 2007 Domaine de la Janasse Côtes du Rhône Les Garrigues exhibits deep, rich aromatics of blackberry and raspberry fruit, grilled meat, licorice and earth. Sporting serious density, concentration and lift, the palate is medium to full bodied, pure, balanced and long. In comparison to the Terre d’Argile’s upfront personality, this seems more serious and could warrant 2 to 3 years in the cellar and then should drink beautifully over the next 15 years. (93+ pts.)

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Bright, clean and with gorgeous purity and lift, the 2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape shows mineral and licorice laced dark fruit aromatics, medium to full body, awesome texture and a structured, long finish. (93 pts.)

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Absolutely stunning, the 2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Chaupin is packed with pure, clean and fresh aromas of assorted dark fruits, blackberry, lavender, flowers and spice. On the palate, it’s full bodied with beautifully sweet fruit ripe, fine grained tannins, perfect balance and a finish that simply won’t quite. This has the fruit to drink well young but the structure to age for 20 years. (98 pts.)

2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
One of the top wines in the vintage, the 2007 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is a blend of 85% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 3% Mourvèdre and 2% various and has 25% of the wine being aged in 40% new barrels. It offers up ripe, dark aromatics of cassis, blackberry, spice and grilled meat that are both fresh and decadent at the same time. These lead into a full bodied, massive palate that is perfectly balanced with amazing fruit, a silky texture and a finish that last for nearly a minute. While this will last for decades, the sheer seamlessness and balance should have it drinkable on release. (99 pts.)

Coming soon… Domaine de Cristia!

Ahhh… a beautiful morning in Colorado… and yet I’m sitting here pinning for the south of france… All in all a great trip and I have a daunting amount of notes to wade through and make sense of… I’ll start to have more posts up over the next couple of days but the full ‘07 report will be a week or so out.

As always, thanks for reading!
- Jeb

Finally found some time to post…  and it’s 12:30 am in the morning!  Just got back from a great meal at Les Abeilles in the small village of Sablet and after hanging out for over 4 hours, it’s time for a zantac…

Three days of tasting through as many Chateauneuf domaines as I can manage and some high level, quick thoughts…

First, ‘07 is really spectacular… Nothing new here for sure and the wines are stunningly polished and textured.  Bright, fresh and pure with amazing sweetness to the fruit…  when comparing almost any doamine’s 07s versus another vintage, the texture, purity and quality fruit really stand out.  While they show solid structure as well, most are accessible and certainly offer tons of pleasure at the moment… spitting was more than a little difficult at times.

Top domaines so far… Janasse, Clos St Jean, Mordoree, Clos des Papes, P. Usseglio, Cristia, Mont Olivet and Giraud… all produced amazing wines…  Still have lots of visits and it seems every domaine excelled over previous vintages.

2008…  Lots of bad hype for this vintage but most vintners compare it to ‘04 and ‘06… certainly not poor vintages.  Whites are impressive with lots of freshness and purity…  The handful of barrel samples I’ve tried  for reds show quality fruit with higher but still balanced acidity…  some top domaines reduced production by 35% to 40% to keep quality up…  Should be interesting to see how these develop but the vintages biggest problem might be the fact that it follows 07.

Lots of notes to review and I’ve purchased additional bottles to taste here as well…  Tomorrow is a slow visit day and then Friday is jam packed with additonal visits on Saturday as well…  I should start to get some domaine high level thoughts out tomorrow as well.

Salut and thanks for reading!

Jeb

Bags are packed… well, mostly anyways… and all of the appointments are booked.  Traci and I leave tomorrow and we’ll be in CdP by 2 o’clock on Monday…  An appointment at Janasse and then with Cristia… followed by a dinner with Dominque (from Cristia) should cap a long day of travel.  The next day (Tuesday) starts at the farmers market at Vasion-la-Romaine followed by Pegau, Marcoux, Donjon and maybe Charvin (hopefully Laurent gets my email) and I can barely wait!  No post tomorrow… and maybe not on Monday either… but I’ll have something up Tuesday and will follow up with posts throughout the week…

Still looking for a bistro in Paris… we’ll be there next Sunday and Monday and would love some thoughts!

Salut and thanks for reading!

- Jeb

2005 Domaine Puig Parahy Côtes du Roussillon Georges (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon)
Per the bottle, the 2005 Domaine Puig Parahy Côtes du Roussillon Georges is from 60 to 80 year old vines (the blend isn’t stated but I’d guess a fair bit of Grenache and Carignan), is hand harvested and is the winemaker’s favorite blend, hence the name. A really pretty wine that is packed with earthy black cherry fruit, minerals, iron and licorice aromas and with air time, more roasted herb and spice aromas show up. The palate is medium bodied with sweet fruit and an almost burgundian sappiness to the texture. Bright, clean, well balanced and with ample length on the finish, this is excellent and worth checking out. (88 pts.)

2006 Domaine Puig Parahy Côtes du Roussillon Georges (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon)
Produced from old vines, the 2006 Domaine Puig Parahy Côtes du Roussillon George is a fantastic bargain and smells like a Provencal market with copious amounts of garrigue, lavender, minerals, spice and leather aromas that simply scream out for a quickly roasted chicken. Southern Rhone to the max but there might be a wee bit a brett as well so watch out is you cry foul at the slightest whiff of leather and/or funk. The palate is medium bodied, rich, balanced and clean with nice acidity, beautiful fruit and a medium to long, mineral laced finish. Buy this by the case and drink it over the next 3 to 5 years. (89 pts.)

2005 Domaine Puig Parahy Syrah Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes)
Displaying a big, meaty, plum and cassis scented bouquet, the 2005 Domaine Puig Parahy Syrah Vin de Pays des Côtes Catalanes has gobs of ripe fruit sitting on top of roasted herbs, spice and tobacco aromas. The palate is medium bodied with a rich, chewy texture and a slightly tight, backwards personality. There’s plenty of concentrated fruit and this picks up some chocolate flavors and plenty of dusty tannins on the finish. Per the bottle, this is made from choice lots of older Syrah. (88+ pts.)

2007 Domaine Puig ParahY Côtes du Roussillon Le Fort Saint Pierre (France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon)
Hand picked from vineyards located in the foothills of the Pyrennes, the 2007 Domaine Puig Parahy Côtes du Roussillon Le Fort Saint Pierre is billed as the top red of the domaine and offers up a dense, slightly reserved nose of wild blueberries and cassis scented fruit that’s layered with flowers, mineral, black pepper and earth notes . The palate is medium to full bodied with ripe fruit, solid concentration and a tannic, structured personality that’s buffered by all of the fruit in the wine.  The lush and soft quality to the fruit makes me think this is an early to mid term ager but the solid structure could have this going well for a number of years.  I’d give this one a year or two in the cellar and see what happens.  (88+ pts.)

Bosquet des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Grenache (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Drinking at maturity, the 2000 Bosquet des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape offers up perfumed and nuanced notes of fennel, licorice, ripe herbs and garrigue aromas that are framed by sweet red fruit notes. Medium bodied on the palate with a smooth, clean texture, nice balance and a medium length finish. This should drink beautifully over the next 5′ish years. (88 pts.)

2006 Domaine de la Gramiere (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône)
Showing lots of blue and black fruit mixed with earth, mineral and floral aromas on the nose, the 2006 Domaine de la Gramiere is medium bodied and possesses plenty of richness that’s balanced by nice acidity and noticeable fine grained tannins on the finish. There’s a slight volatile headiness that is tough to pin down but there’s a lot to like here and this shows decent length as well. It improved with air and held up admirably over the three days it took me to get through the bottle.  Drink em over the next 3 to 5 years. (87 pts.)

In the middle of a kitchen remodel, Traci and I were able to escape to a friend’s house for a relaxing Saturday evening. The grill was pegged at 700+ degrees (a spray bottle of water was required to keep things in check) and a couple of 3 inch Prime New York Strips were the perfect foil for some young, blockbuster wines. The 2005 Casa Lapostolle Clos Apalta Colchagua Valley showed stunning purity and a level of refinement that you don’t find in many wines. A Bordeaux look alike, this is packed with cassis, earth, lead pencil, tobacco and high class oak aromas and the palate is silky, refined and long. Just a stunning drink, this is approachable now but has enough stuffing to warrant decent cellar time. The 2005 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes had been double decanted earlier that day and then placed in a cold cellar with the cork in. In hindsight, we might have done better with a slightly more aggressive decant regime and this continued to open up in the glass and the last glass was easily the best. Simply packed with dark blackberry, earth, graphite and licorice notes, the palate is gorgeous with full body, a silky texture and a blockbuster finish. This needs 5+ years in the cellar (10 really) and should drink just dandy for 15 years after that. Simply a stunning wine!

If you’re ever planning a kitchen remodel… call me and I’ll do my best to talk you out of it..

As always, thanks for reading!

2007 Cave de Rasteau Côtes du Rhône Le Dome du Grand Bois (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône Villages Rasteau)
A blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Cinsault and 10% Carignan, the 2007 Cave de Rasteau Côtes du Rhône Le Dome du Grand Bois offers up jammy raspberry and black cherry fruit aromas that are supported by crisp mineral, earth and smokey notes. Medium bodied, this has nice purity, a silky, light texture, nice acidity and a clean, medium length finish. A straightforward, delicious Côtes du Rhône to drink over the near term. (88 pts.)