Just got an update from Karine of Cuvee du Vatican (www.cuveeduvatican.fr) regarding the snow in Chateauneuf…  not very common ladies and gentlemen.

Ok, I’ve screwed around for a week and it’s finally time to get back to work… on tap for tonight: finalize notes on a trio of rocking aussie grenaches; the ‘06, ‘07 and ‘08 Noon Eclipse. They’ve been open for two days and are still dee-lish.

The notes from the last newsletter are … almost… into the database. Seriously, there has to be an easier way to manage the notes. In the mean time, pour a glass to my misery as I manually link up wines, importers, drinking windows and notes in excel for close to 300 wines…. C’est la vie.

Hi all,
I’m thrilled to report that the latest Issue of The Rhone Report is now available on the front page!

In total, I review just shy of 300 wines with coverage on the South of France, Northern Rhône, Spain and a small subset of Rhone Rangers. I also included a detailed look at the weather from both the ‘08 and ‘09 vintages in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, a listing of the top rated wines in the Issue, over 40 value recommendations and buying strategies for 2010. A lot of effort went into the report and I truly hope you get some use out of it.

The reviews have not yet made it to the database yet but they’ll trickle in this week.

As always, comments, suggestions and criticisms are very welcome and appreciated.

I hope 2010 is treating you well!
Jeb

Bouchon
The Venetian Resort, 3355 Las Vegas Blvd. South, Las Vegas, NV
September, 2009
- Jeb Dunnuck

Bouchon is the bistro side of Yountville’s famed French Laundry and while the Vegas destination isn’t quite up to the level of the parent establishment, they still deliver a quality meal and a decent (and relatively affordable) wine list.  This early morning visit followed a long night at the poker tables and the early time allowed us to sit on the outdoor patio, prior to the 110+ degree Vegas heat baking anything that dare step outside.

One of the many French cookbooks I have gives a recipe for “Chicken and Waffles” but, I could just never bring myself to actually make it. Roast chicken, in the morning, with waffles… seriously? Well,  after seeing this on the menu and despite the odd looks I received from the wife, I couldn’t resist giving it a whirl, .  To give you an idea of the success of the dish, I’m still craving this meal some 5 months later. The syrup compliments the simply roasted bird and the waffles were as decadent as could be. A huge order of french fries rounds out the food. Eclectic, yes  I know, but it did work!

On the wine side, a bottle of the 2006 Qupé Roussanne Hillside Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard offered fantastic aromatics of stone fruits, apricot, honey comb and subtle butter notes along with solid underlying minerality. It’s rich and full on the nose as well as complex and smooth. Medium to full bodied on the palate, the wine is perfectly balanced with fresh acidity, a precise, pure texture and a long finish. I’m a fan and would opt for drinking this over the next 3 or so years.

A bottle of 2007 Melville Pinot Noir Estate was straight up delicious with big, upfront pinot fruit, vanilla and a little licorice and exotic spice aromas. In the mouth, it’s medium to full bodied with a big texture, beautiful balance and finish that has you coming back for another drink.   This will be a crowd pleaser and I’d image would pair with a wide variety of foods.  At the release price of around 20 bucks, it’s also a fantastic value!

2006 Qupé Roussanne Hillside Estate Bien Nacido Vineyard - 92 pts.
2007 Melville Pinot Noir Estate - 91 pts.

Chez Michel
10 Rue de Belzunce, 75010 Paris, France
June, 2009
- Jeb Dunnuck

Thierry Breton is the chef of this small bistro and he specializes in game and classic dishes from Brittany.  Located in the 10th Arrondissement of Paris, I don’t think this place could be harder to find. I’ve been lost both times I’ve visited and this time, the cab driver had to make multiple calls just to get us within walking distance.  If visiting, the cross streets are Rue St. Vincent de Paul and Place de Roubaix. Hopefully that helps and I do think it’s worth the effort to find.

For this visit, Traci and I had just gotten into Paris (after spending more than a week in Chateauneuf-du-pape tasting through the 2007s), were beat and looking for a relaxing, easy evening with good food and an affordable, solid bottle of wine.  Chez Michel delivered and the Soupe de Poisson, Mussels, Coq au Vin and Salmon courses were all first rate.  The wine list, while not very deep, did offer value and the 2006 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape came in at under 60 euro and was a no brainer.  This is certainly one of the top wines of the vintage and this bottle was even better than a previous one from a couple days earlier.  Possessing awesome purity as well as the edge and cut you expect from this producer, it had top notch aromatics of dark fruit, licorice and graphite  (this cuvee sees zero new wood.)  Balanced, precise and very pure, my guess is that this will drink beautifully over the next 15+ years.  All in all, a solid way to start a couple days in Paris!

Food:

• Soupe de Poisson
• Snails
• Mussels
• Steamed Salmon
• Coq au Vin
• Far Breton

Wine:

• 2006 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape - 94 pts.
  

Boulder, CO
December, 2009
Jeb Dunnuck

That’s it, every Friday needs a lunch like this…  The theme was Spain and there wasn’t a dog to be found in the lineup.

We started off with a sublime 1989 Viña Tondonia Blanco Gran Reserva. This is a blend of Viura and Malvasía and I don’t know of a better white for under 50 bucks.  Rich and in an oxidized style, this gains freshness in the glass and just oozes character and class.  Medium bodied with sweet fruit, a clean texture and a beautiful finish, this is also incredibly consistent.  Probably the third bottle I’ve had this year and they’ve all shown incredibly well.  As a side note, I think the ‘81 of this is even better!  Do yourself a favor and give one of these a whirl.

The sole white (if you don’t count the dessert wine)  led into a bevy of reds and we started with the lightest and progressed to the younger, heavier wines.  The 1985 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva Viña Tondonia would give more than one grand cru burgundy a run for its money.  Light, nuanced and complex aromatics lead into a silky, completely integrated wine that is drinking at point.  I wished this had a touch more umph but the table loved this wine.  It also improved in the glass so while at point, I don’t think it’s going to fall apart over the next couple of years either.

The 2000 Clos Erasmus was pop and pour and while not up to an otherworldly ‘98 from the previous night, boasted gorgeous aromas of chocolatey dark fruit, hot asphalt, dusty spice and serious chalk and minerals.  There was noticeable wood at first but over the lunch and later that evening, this was completely soaked up by the fruit.  The palate is medium to full bodied with impressive purity and richness, a killer texture and a tannic, blockbuster finish.   I thoroughly enjoyed this but if you like more mature aromas, or are tannin adverse, give this another 3 or so years in the cellar.  That might do it…

The 1996 Artadi Rioja Viña El Pison was showing hints of maturity on the nose with peppered steak, raw meat, minerals, vanilla and slightly cheesy notes as well as straight up, pure fruit.  It’s earthy, rich, and amazingly complex.  In the mouth, the wine is perfectly built and maintains a sense of elegance as well as power.  Full bodied but with a precise, structured edge, this gains steam on the finish and shows huge length.  I love the cut and poise and it’s rare to find this level of both power and elegance.  Huge, huge fan here.

About as polished and seamless as can be, the 100% Grenache 2005 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Aquilon started off with lots of sweet, high class oak but like the Clos Erasmus, quickly showed primarily pure, beautiful fruit.  Blackberry liqueur, vanilla, licorice and spice all come jumping from the glass and the palate is a lesson in texture and balance.  Perfectly built, seamless, full bodied and yet light and airy, this is still a baby in terms of development.  Can a wine that is so seamless and approachable at this stage possibly age and improve?  I don’t know but I’d drink this any day of the week.

A more structured, dense wine, the 1999 Celler Vall Llach had plenty of toast and char as well as a slight nutty note to go with its dark, earthy fruit driven core.  Medium to full bodied, this becomes more than a little impressive after the first sip and the wine is perfectly structured, balanced and rich. It finishes with ripe tannin, pure fruit and plenty of length.   The blend here is 35% Merlot, 50% Cariñena and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon.

We capped the meal with a 1940 S.A. Málaga Larios Málaga Solera. Completely opaque and with a very dark brown/black color, it was the essence of coffee flavored toffee (maybe throw in some flamed brown sugar… or molassas.. or.. you get the idea.) The beauty, and frankly a unique component to the wine, was that despite the huge body and relatively thick texture, the wine remained light, airy and down right drinkable.

1989 R. López de Heredia Rioja Blanco Gran Reserva (White) - 93 pts.
1991 C.V.N.E. (Compañía Vinícola del Norte de España) Rioja Viña Real Gran Reserva - 93 pts.
1985 R. López de Heredia Rioja Reserva - 92 pts.
2005 Bodegas Alto Moncayo Campo de Borja Aquilon - 96 pts.
2000 Clos Erasmus Priorat - 95 pts.
2001 Fernando Remírez de Ganuza Rioja Trasnocho - NR
1996 Artadi Rioja Viña El Pison - 97 pts.
1999 Celler Vall Llach Priorat Vall Llach - 95 pts.
1940 S.A. Málaga Larios Málaga Solera - 96 pts.

Denver, CO
November, 2009
Jeb Dunnuck

This dinner was arranged by the amazingly gracious Michael Weiss, and showcased the Crème de la Crème of the 1989 vintage.

Along with a number of tapas and appetizers, the evening started off with a surprisingly open and soft 1995 Krug Brut Champagne.  Yeast and bread aromas as well as plenty of ripe fruit show up on the nose and the wine struts on the palate with a soft, mouth filling texture, beautiful cut and clarity and a great finish.  I think the table was surprised at how approachable the wine was.  Representative or not, the wine was stunning.

Next, we dove into a lineup of ‘89 Chateauneuf-du-papes and a better flight I’ve not had for… well, ever?  Seriously, I felt like a kid in a candy store the whole evening.  The 1989 Château de Beaucastel Hommage à Jacques Perrin was near perfect and displayed a meaty, smoky personality with mushroom, tree bark and perfectly ripe, cool dark fruit aromatics.  The palate had so much length and staying power that I almost had to rinse my mouth out before trying another wine… the damn thing would just not quit!  Full bodied, perfectly structured and with a prodigious, unbelievable texture, this has everything you could want in a wine and while I think this would make any warm blooded human giddy to drink, it’s still young. While I wouldn’t hesitate to pop another bottle tomorrow (if I was lucky enough to have any), based on this showing, it’s still 3 to 5 (or more) years out from full maturity.

The 1989 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins was surprisingly clean and almost civilized with massive garrigue, herbs, minerals and roasted meat juice aromas and flavors.  Very full bodied and rich, the wine opened up in the glass and saturates the palate with ripe, exotic fruit and burly tannin.  Long, structured and still young, this stunning wine has a long life ahead of it.

In complete contrast to the two heavyweights, the 1989 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve was slightly reserved at first and when compared to its ‘90 and ‘95 siblings, shows a slightly cooler profile with a licorice and garrigue character.  Over the evening, more kirsch and sweetness emerged on the nose and the palate was pure Rayas with amazing sweetness, a seamless, lush and pure silk texture and killer finish.  Can anything compare to the sheer seamlessness and drinkability of a mature (relatively) Rayas?  Wow.

All of the wines went perfectly with a Lamb Shank & pasta dish and the bottles were drained over a roughly two hour period.  They had been previously decanted and while drinking well,  they all improved in the glass and probably fall on the early side of their maturity window.   At 20 years of age, that’s saying something and I think these wines would stand up to and surpass anything out there.

The evening was capped with a monstrous 1995 Avignonesi Vin Santo di Montepulciano Occhio di Pernice.  Pouring out of the bottle like 40 weight motor oil, this wine smacks you in the mouth with thick, dense fruit.  It literally has a heavy, tactile feel in the mouth and while a fork could be used, the wine is balanced, silky, amazingly concentrated and crazy long on the palate.  Think PX but only better and this gets a serious Wow!

As always, thanks for reading!

- Jeb

Courses:

• Veal Sweetbreads with purple top turnips, roasted fall vegetables, Verde mustard greens
• Mussels with Chorizo, roasted tomatoes, red onion, tarragon
• Lamb Shank Tagliatelle
• Chocolate Chiffon Cake

Wines:

• 1995 Krug Champagne Brut - 95 pts.
• 1989 Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape Hommage à Jacques Perrin - 99+ pts.
• 1989 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve des Célestins - 98 pts.
• 1989 Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve - 97+ pts.
• 1995 Avignonesi Vin Santo di Montepulciano Occhio di Pernice - 97 pts.

Dear readers,

I’m quickly approaching the one year anniversary of the site and wanted to take a moment to look back over 2009 as well as announce the upcoming newsletter schedule and pending site updates. This time last year I was neck deep in HTML programming, trying to figure out the best place to host the site, what it should be called, how it should look and all of the other tiny decisions that you never think about until you have to make them. Little did I know the time, effort and money this endeavor would take but it has been a labor of love!

Since I’m an engineer at heart and dig statistics/metrics, here’s how the site has fared over the past 11 months.

Site traffic:

Measuring total traffic is always a wag but I like individual visits as opposed to other statistics. I’m currently seeing just shy of 300 visits a day and last Month was the highest yet. The below graph shows the monthly totals from 2009 and overall growth from January through November is over 600%.

FIGURE 1: Site visits

Tasting notes:

The database has just under 2,000 Rhone tasting notes (I’m working hard to increase this!) and database searches are the fastest growing function on the site. The month of November clocked in with over 15 thousand searches.

FIGURE 2: Database Searches

Newsletters:

My first newsletter came out in August and while it’s tough to read much from two data points, here it is anyways:

Issue 1: New releases from the south of France

• Posted: August 1st, 2009
• Wine reviews: 240
• Total downloads: 2,344

Issue 2: The Rhone Rangers of California

• Posted: November 1st, 2009
• Wine Reviews: 340
• Total downloads: 4,196

I can’t tell if more of you are interested in Rhone Rangers of if it’s simply more people know about the site.

Newsletter schedule

Going forward into 2010, the newsletter schedule will be as follows:

• February: France/Spain
• May: Australia
• August: Chateauneuf du Pape
• November: Rhone Rangers from the United States

I’m already hard at work on both the February and May newsletters. The February issue will cover a wide range of regions including:

• Southern Rhones: Any ‘07 Chateauneufs I missed in Issue 1. I’ve been drinking my fair share of these and simply love the vintage. The wines show beautiful purity, fresh acidity and amazing fruit. The top wines show best with a couple hours of air. Cotes du Rhone Villages: Gigondas, Lirac, Rasteau, Vacqueyras & Cotes du Rone. These were sorely under represented in my first newsletter. In addition to covering more of these wines in this issue, my yearly trip to Chateauneuf will be extended to add more visits and notes from these villages so expect the coverage to increase going into 2010.
• Northern Rhones
• Languedoc-Roussillon: Distribution in the states is limited on these but I’m trying hard to cover a good number of these.
• Rhone releases from Spain

Recent Updates

I’ve made the following updates in the last week:

• Mailing list: If you’re interested in emails for new issues or site updates, please subscribe on the front page. I promise not to fill your inbox with emails.
• Donations: In order to increase the coverage I’m able to provide in the newsletters, I’m now accepting donations. Please consider donating and every penny will go directly to supporting this site. As I’ve said in my newsletters, I’m completely independent and this site is 100% free and contains no advertisements. You can donate using paypal HERE and I’m working to integrate the donation process into this site as well.

Up and Coming

• CellarTracker Integration: The big news will be the integration of the notes on this site with Eric LeVine’s CellarTracker site. I’m a huge fan of cellartracker and can’t recommend Eric’s site enough.  To support the integration, this site will move towards a login/user based interface.  I’ve already started work on this and my goal is roll it out early in 2010.
• Enhanced search features:  I’ve been saying this for awhile now but it’s going to happen!  Search by region, producer and importer will roll out in late winter or earlier.
• Wine prices: I’m putting bottle prices into the newsletters but as of yet, haven’t rolled them into the database.  I plan on working on a way to get current retail prices displayed.

And that’s all folks!  I want to thank you for your continued support, feedback and recommendations!

Here’s to a rocking 2010!

Jeb Dunnuck
www.TheRhoneReport.com

A great piece posted by Jason Haas of Tablas Creek:

http://tablascreek.typepad.com/tablas/2009/11/the-rhone-report-and-the-appeal-of-wine-criticism-by-varietal.html

Bryan Flannery Strip Steaks

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.)