A recent email from Karine Diffonty of Cuvée du Vatican commenting on the 2009 harvest:

Hello,

Harvest are finished ouf! Just this message to talk quickly about climate
conditions for the vintage 2009 ! Chateauneuf du Pape is definitely amazing
?.2008?2009? !

So it is the first time that we have harvested so late for 11 years ! We
frightened when we saw the weather and the maturity wasn?t made at the
beginning of september. But we have waited for?. The choice was presomptuous
and Jean Marc and me had a lot of doubts but the choice was at the end good
!

The sunshine was here along september with goods temperatures not too much
high and during the nights it is fresher. A light wind was present, just
enough.

We have picked up Rayas and La crau at the end last of september, and the
old vines of Barbe d?anes at the beginning of september, we stopped three
times and began again three days again until the end, just for waiting the
level of maturity in the fruit that we ate because the degree was here but
not the aromas, and the weather was still good. The first rain was at mid of
september and in fact for us it was very good for the maturity phenolic of
the fruit, and, yes, the result is great ! The grenache are superb as the
mourvedre as the syrah etc?. !

Just for the information, the website will be in function at the end of
october or at the beginning of november, i invite you to go in and watch it!
I am sorry for the delay?. :

www.cuveeduvatican.fr <http://www.cuveeduvatican.fr/>

I had a great laid back evening last night hanging out with Rico and his lovely wife Jana.  The occasion was the nebbiolo head’s birthday and we kicked back and drank through some lovely bottles.

We started with a grower champagne that’s imported by Terry Theise… I failed to get the name but it was an NV that had been disgorged in 1999 and showed fantastic rich fruit, brioche, subtle nuttiness and minerals as well as vibrant acidity and a rich mouth feel. Sign me up for more of these and I’ll update this post later when I get the producer.

The 1993 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia had been slow o’ed for the day and while not showing huge depth or richness, was a treat and showed that nebbilo profile that makes lovers of this variety sigh with pleasure… tar, roses, tobacco, menthol and subtle black tea aromas and flavors drive the wine and the palate is smooth, medium bodied and fresh… as well as austere and slightly unforgiving.   I’d opt to drink these while there’s still a hint of sweetness to the fruit but the neb expert disagreed.

We switched gears with the 1999 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes.  This old vine cuvee is the essence of Grenache and has heady blackberry and spice laden dark fruit, liquefied stems, licorice, meat juice and fresh cut flower aromatics, medium to full body and a rich, long finish. As with the Conterno, it lacks some depth on the palate but shows true character and transparency.  Sadly my last bottle.  I think this is drinking well and had a good 5 to 10 more years of prime time.

That’s all folks. Have a good weekend!
Jeb

NV Champagne Producer TBD - 91 pts.
1993 Giacomo Conterno Barolo Cascina Francia - 91 pts.
1999 Domaine de Marcoux Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes - 93 pts.