This dinner was hosted at my house and we broke out some truly monumental wines from the 2000 vintage. A ripe, forward vintage that has by all accounts drunk well on release, I was excited to see how the top wines from the vintage would show.

Due to the amount of wine, we skipped a started white and went right into a warm up flight before diving into the 2000s. Both the 1995 Rayas and 1998 Pégaü Cuvée Laurence were firing on all cylinders. The Rayas was so silky and sublime that I almost downed the whole pour in 5 minutes and had to force myself to sit the glass down. The Pégaü was in a completely different style and continued to open up in the glass, possessing lots of Pégaü spice and meat paired with a blockbuster finish. This, along with the ’01 Laurence, are my favorite vintages of this cuvee by a wide margin. The 1995 Beaucastel suffered next to the prior wines, starting out thin and tight on the palate. It continued to improve over the evening but wasn’t really showing well until the next day. I’ve had multiple bottles of this recently and think it needs to be forgotten in the cellar for 5 or more years.

The first 2000 flight started off with a spicy, perfumed Henri Bonneau Réserve des Célestins. Probably drinking the best of all of the 2000s on this evening, the wine sported garrigue, licorice and underbrush infused aromatics and a sweet, balanced and rich palate. The 2000 Clos des Papes was distinctly different with a denser, less evolved profile. Kirsch, black tea and underbrush aromas lead into its full bodied, rich palate. Still very young, this can be enjoyed now or over the next 10 to 15 years. A big disappointment was the 2000 Vieille Julienne Reserve. Dominated by volatile acidity on the nose, there wasn’t much joy to be found here. The wine showed class on the palate however with amazing concentration and a structured, tannic finish.

The second flight focused on Mourvedre wines and the 2000 Beaucastel was open and drinking beautifully. Meaty, earthy and with boat loads of spice and garrigue, the wine was full bodied, beautifully balanced and a joy to drink. The second disappointment of the evening was a corked bottle of 2000 Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin. Enough to bring a tear to your eye but the 2000 Clos du Caillou Reserve was just the cure. With a full 40% of the blend Mourvedre, the wine tasted more like a barrel sample than one approaching its 10 year anniversary. Simply filled with charred and grilled meat, new wood, garrigue and perfect fruit, the wine couldn’t get any better on the palate. Full bodied, structured and with awesome purity and richness, this baby needs another 10+ years before it’s ready for prime time drinking.

The final flight highlighted the modern side of Chateauneuf and the 2000 Janasse Vieille Vignes showed superbly. Even better than a previous bottle, this is young and was still going strong on the second day. A bottle that I think is consistently perfect is the 2000 Pierre Usseglio Réserve des Deux Frères. A full bodied powerhouse of a wine, this has screamingly good aromatics, amazing richness and a texture that simply won’t quite. While not up to the 1990, the 2000 Les Cailloux Cuvée Centenaire is textbook Grenache with garrigue, kirsch and spice aromatics, full body and a rich, unctuous texture. Given the low acidity and sweet fruit, this is another candidate for consuming over the next 10 years.

All in all, this was a stunning evening with great people and great bottles of wine. While a handful the wines are starting to enter their prime drinking window (Beaucastel, Caillou Centenaire, Bonneau Celestine, Mon Aieul wasn’t tasted here but is also drinking beautifully), all of the wines are young and shouldn’t have any issues going another 10 if not 20 or more years. People lucky enough to have some of these in their cellars should be very happy indeed!

2000 Chateauneuf du Pape - Full Notes:

1995 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Just stunning, the 1995 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve belies the vintage characteristics with amazingly sweet, perfumed aromas of licorice infused raspberries, spice, incense and garrigue that come jumping out of the glass. Almost like candy in the mouth, the wine is medium to full bodied with perfect balance, a light, airy texture, sweet fruit and a great finish. A joy to drink and the seamlessness makes the glass hard to put down. (98 pts.)

1995 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
This bottle of 1995 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape greatly improved with air, offering up complex truffle, leather, garrigue and meaty aromas, ripe fruit and a medium to full bodied, firm and structured palate. It showed even better on the second day and lost a smidge of the austerity it previously had and gained weight in the mouth. I still think it needs another 5+ years to really shine. (92+ pts.)

1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A great showing by the 1998 Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Laurence and I actually preferred this bottle to a Cuvée Réservée recently. A big, rich and masculine wine, this took some time to really open up and showed garrigue, dried herbs and meaty aromas, full body, a rich, structured palate and a blockbuster finish. Decant if drinking anytime soon. Great, great wine. (97 pts.)

2000 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
The 2000 Réserve des Célestins has perfumed and expressive aromatics of garrigue, spice, tapenade, leather and earth that lead into a full bodied, rich palate. The wine has a great texture, impeccable balance and has a long finish. While still a youngster, this is very approachable now. (96 pts.)

2000 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Showing big, full notes of garrigue, black tea, licorice and underbrush along with killer kirsch fruit, the 2000 Clos des Papes is full bodied with a big mouth coating texture, nice density, solid structure and a long finish. It offers lots of pleasure now but should gain complexity with additional cellar time. (95 pts.)

2000 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Dominated by volatile acidity on the nose, the 2000 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a full bodied, amazingly structured and tannic palate. While I consider this a flawed bottle, the fruit, depth and texture on the palate are really something. (NR)

2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
The 2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape has a fantastic, complex bouquet of spiced meat, mushrooms, garrigue and dried Provencal herbs that are supported by ripe, licorice infused blackberry fruit. It continues to open up with air and gains a smoky, tobacco characteristic. The palate is medium to full bodied with ripe fruit, a rich, savory texture and vibrant acidity that comes out on the finish. I’d say this is entering its drinking window and should easily last 10+ more. (95 pts.)

2000 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Corked. (NR)

2000 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou Reserve (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A spectacular wine, the 2000 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou Reserve is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre and exhibits ripe, smoky and dark fruit driven aromatics. Along with stunning garrigue, grilled meat and charred earth notes, there’s a touch of graphite and noticeable new wood. The palate is full bodied with perfect structure, awesome purity and richness, sweet fruit and a blockbuster finish. Borderline perfection in my book. (99 pts.)

2000 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A real Wow bottle of wine, the 2000 Domaine de la Janasse Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is just packed with deep, rich and fresh aromas of blackberry, licorice, meat juice, smoke and graphite. I was literally swooning over the aromatics on the second day and the wine is full bodied with awesome purity, precision and balance. Still very young, this has a long life ahead of it. (97 pts.)

2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Deux Frères (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
An otherworldly wine, the 2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Deux Frères is packed with roasted herbs, charred beef, smoke, tobacco, cassis and dark fruit. The palate is as good as wine gets with full body, an amazing texture that saturates your mouth, bright acidity and a knockout finish. Still very young, this should age beautifully. (100 pts.)

2000 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Centenaire (France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
A blend of 80% Grenache (from the Farguerol vineyard), 8% Syrah and 12% Mourvedre, the 2000 Les Cailloux (Lucien et André Brunel) Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Centenaire offers up perfumed notes of spice, leather and meat that are mixed with subtle garrigue, underbrush and kirsch fruit. In the mouth, the wine is full bodied with a fat, unctuous texture, low acidity, sweet fruit and a blockbuster finish. While still young, this is drinking extremely well. (96 pts.)

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