| Chateauneuf du Pape Tasting Report |
Ah, back to France we go with our latest staff
tasting report, to the little Southern Rhone
appellation called, “Chateauneuf du Pape”. The
New House of the Pope wines. This month we
audition six wines, five from the Chateauneuf du
Pape region and so aptly named, and one fraud
from the Northern region of Rhone, Crozes-
Hermitage. If you read our story about
Chateauneuf du Pape wines, you already know
that it is the mother of all wine blends, on some
occasions, winemakers will add as much as
thirteen different wine grapes to the blend. I don’t
believe any of our Chats’ had that many grapes in
them judging from the way they tasted, but the
Crozes-Hermitage was a different story entirely.
Traditionally, that region sticks to Syrah for their
red wines and Viognier or Marsanne for their
white wines. Personally, after we tasted this wine,
I believe they snuck all three grape varieties in the
blend.
A good host would serve food that complemented
our wines, but I went for convenience over
culinary perfection. I did have a portabella
mushroom pizza that was a hit with the earthiness
of the wines, but I’m afraid my mini Mexican
burritos and chicken empanadas would not have
been the ideal fair for such a wine. Oh well,
nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
I think that the results of this tasting would make
both the wine snobs and the wine clueless happy,
as the two, and by far the best, wines of the group
were the cheapest and most expensive. I guess
that makes the cheapest the best buy of the
bunch. Since this wine region was dedicated in the
name of the Pope, would our six fearless Pope
Wannabees, be able to decipher the five wines fit
for a Pope and pick out the one fraud??? Based
on our scores, I’d say we are well on our way up
the Catholic Church ladder. See for yourself
below:
tasting report, to the little Southern Rhone
appellation called, “Chateauneuf du Pape”. The
New House of the Pope wines. This month we
audition six wines, five from the Chateauneuf du
Pape region and so aptly named, and one fraud
from the Northern region of Rhone, Crozes-
Hermitage. If you read our story about
Chateauneuf du Pape wines, you already know
that it is the mother of all wine blends, on some
occasions, winemakers will add as much as
thirteen different wine grapes to the blend. I don’t
believe any of our Chats’ had that many grapes in
them judging from the way they tasted, but the
Crozes-Hermitage was a different story entirely.
Traditionally, that region sticks to Syrah for their
red wines and Viognier or Marsanne for their
white wines. Personally, after we tasted this wine,
I believe they snuck all three grape varieties in the
blend.
A good host would serve food that complemented
our wines, but I went for convenience over
culinary perfection. I did have a portabella
mushroom pizza that was a hit with the earthiness
of the wines, but I’m afraid my mini Mexican
burritos and chicken empanadas would not have
been the ideal fair for such a wine. Oh well,
nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
I think that the results of this tasting would make
both the wine snobs and the wine clueless happy,
as the two, and by far the best, wines of the group
were the cheapest and most expensive. I guess
that makes the cheapest the best buy of the
bunch. Since this wine region was dedicated in the
name of the Pope, would our six fearless Pope
Wannabees, be able to decipher the five wines fit
for a Pope and pick out the one fraud??? Based
on our scores, I’d say we are well on our way up
the Catholic Church ladder. See for yourself
below:
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| Chateau De La Grande Gardiole 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape – Rhone, France |
Notes: A sassy nose filled full of spicy pepper
and cassis, very intriguing and inviting. On the
palate it continues to impress as it shows its full
array of spices and dark fruits like
Boysenberry with a little strawberry jam in the
mix. The body is thin, but the wine is balanced.
Comments: Ever had a GSM wine from
Australia? That is exactly what this reminded
me of and it is probably those same three
grapes in that precise order that made up the
contents of this blend. Grenache, Syrah &
Mouvedre. This wine was the cheapest which
made everyone happy as it out-performed the
others by a landslide save only the number two
wine, which defended the honor of the wine
snobs with its close-second place score. This
was also the youngest wine of the bunch as it
was a 2004. I know that 2003 was a
blockbuster year from Southern Rhone, but I
haven’t read any press yet about the 2004
vintage. Based on this wine, it may also be a
good year.
and cassis, very intriguing and inviting. On the
palate it continues to impress as it shows its full
array of spices and dark fruits like
Boysenberry with a little strawberry jam in the
mix. The body is thin, but the wine is balanced.
Comments: Ever had a GSM wine from
Australia? That is exactly what this reminded
me of and it is probably those same three
grapes in that precise order that made up the
contents of this blend. Grenache, Syrah &
Mouvedre. This wine was the cheapest which
made everyone happy as it out-performed the
others by a landslide save only the number two
wine, which defended the honor of the wine
snobs with its close-second place score. This
was also the youngest wine of the bunch as it
was a 2004. I know that 2003 was a
blockbuster year from Southern Rhone, but I
haven’t read any press yet about the 2004
vintage. Based on this wine, it may also be a
good year.
| Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils – Chateauneuf du Papa Tradition 2003 – Rhone, France |
Notes: Like waking up in a spring cottage in
the country to the smell of rose petals & the
forest floor, while Mom is baking a cherry pie
in the kitchen. Although the wine is light in
body, it makes up for it in taste with assertive
tannins, spicy black pepper and a little cherry
and raspberry fruit to boot! Very tasty indeed.
Comments: I bought this wine from Wine.com
based on its’ Robert Parker rating of 92 pts. I’
m not sure our staff thought it was that good,
but it was very tasty. He also goes on to say
that it would mature on through to the year
2017. I’ll take his word for it, but I am unsure
how as it had a thin body to it. It did have
some good tannins though. Overall impression
was that of a classy wine made from someone
that knew what he or she were doing.
the country to the smell of rose petals & the
forest floor, while Mom is baking a cherry pie
in the kitchen. Although the wine is light in
body, it makes up for it in taste with assertive
tannins, spicy black pepper and a little cherry
and raspberry fruit to boot! Very tasty indeed.
Comments: I bought this wine from Wine.com
based on its’ Robert Parker rating of 92 pts. I’
m not sure our staff thought it was that good,
but it was very tasty. He also goes on to say
that it would mature on through to the year
2017. I’ll take his word for it, but I am unsure
how as it had a thin body to it. It did have
some good tannins though. Overall impression
was that of a classy wine made from someone
that knew what he or she were doing.
| Tardieu Laurent Chateauneuf du Pape 1996 – Rhone, France |
Notes: Even without seeing the bottle, you
could tell this wine was mature from its
orangish hue around the edge of the glass.
Mostly wood-like aromas of cedar, toast and
a little forest floor enter the nose. On the
palate, it was much smoother and mellower
than the others, but little fruit was left.
Comments: Another giveaway that this was
the oldest wine was all of the tiny sediment
that floated around in our glasses. I like
mature wines, but it is an acquired taste,
about half the group liked this wine a lot and
the other half didn’t care at all for it. Chris
said he bought this at Sigel’s and should you
come across it and want to try it (assuming
you like mature wines), don’t dilly-dally
around; you need to drink it right away as it is
peaking now.
could tell this wine was mature from its
orangish hue around the edge of the glass.
Mostly wood-like aromas of cedar, toast and
a little forest floor enter the nose. On the
palate, it was much smoother and mellower
than the others, but little fruit was left.
Comments: Another giveaway that this was
the oldest wine was all of the tiny sediment
that floated around in our glasses. I like
mature wines, but it is an acquired taste,
about half the group liked this wine a lot and
the other half didn’t care at all for it. Chris
said he bought this at Sigel’s and should you
come across it and want to try it (assuming
you like mature wines), don’t dilly-dally
around; you need to drink it right away as it is
peaking now.
| Score - B- |
| Perrin & Fils – Les Linards Chateauneuf du Pape 2002 – Rhone, France |
Notes: This brick colored wine was chocked
full of vanilla and butter on the nose with
precious little else getting thru. On the
palate, this wine was thin, neutral and not
taking you anywhere in particular. Still
relatively tannic. Nothing special, but not
horrible either. How’s that for a ringing
endorsement?
Comments: Perhaps this wine was a product
of the vintage. The 2002 vintage in Southern
Rhone received a rating of 78 in Wine
Spectator. In other words, not a very good
year. In Europe, it is very important to pay
attention to the vintage year ratings because
wine laws prohibit the winemaker from
intervening when Mother Nature gives them
lemons. This wine is where our tasting took a
turn for the worse as at least in my opinion
anyway, the top three wines had something
valuable to offer the drinker, but the last
three did not!
full of vanilla and butter on the nose with
precious little else getting thru. On the
palate, this wine was thin, neutral and not
taking you anywhere in particular. Still
relatively tannic. Nothing special, but not
horrible either. How’s that for a ringing
endorsement?
Comments: Perhaps this wine was a product
of the vintage. The 2002 vintage in Southern
Rhone received a rating of 78 in Wine
Spectator. In other words, not a very good
year. In Europe, it is very important to pay
attention to the vintage year ratings because
wine laws prohibit the winemaker from
intervening when Mother Nature gives them
lemons. This wine is where our tasting took a
turn for the worse as at least in my opinion
anyway, the top three wines had something
valuable to offer the drinker, but the last
three did not!
| About - $26.00 |
| Score - B- |
| Jean Paul Clement Chateauneuf du Pape 1999 – Rhone, France |
Notes: The color of the wine had begun to
turn orange (age) and the nose reeked of
raisins and prunes. It was clearly over the
hill and past its prime with absolutely no
fruit left.
Comments: The 1999 vintage was no star
either, but I blame this wines demise on
poor storage by the wine shop. It almost
seemed as if this wine had been cooked by
heat. On a positive note, Dandridge really
loved it. Dandridge, your wine credibility
with me went down considerably!
turn orange (age) and the nose reeked of
raisins and prunes. It was clearly over the
hill and past its prime with absolutely no
fruit left.
Comments: The 1999 vintage was no star
either, but I blame this wines demise on
poor storage by the wine shop. It almost
seemed as if this wine had been cooked by
heat. On a positive note, Dandridge really
loved it. Dandridge, your wine credibility
with me went down considerably!
| Price - $25.00 |
| Score - B- |
| Roland Betton – Crozes-Hermitage 2003 – Rhone, France |
Notes: A bizarre collection of candied
fruits like orange peel, apricot and
tangerine dominated the nose. Is this a red
or white wine I’m smelling??? The palate
could best be summed up as strange, thin
and hot with more white wine
characteristics than red. Loads of apricot...
say what???
Comments: Well we successfully found the
imposter in our group. This was the lone
wine from outside the Chateauneuf du Pape
region. Although the blend probably
consisted mostly of Syrah and Grenache,
both of which are red wine grapes, it was
very clear by the taste and smell, the
winemaker used judicious amounts of white
wine varietals in the blend. The most likely
suspects are Viognier and or Marsanne.
Technically speaking there was nothing
wrong with the wine, it did not show any
faults like the previous two, but it stood out
from the rest because of its strange and
awkward taste. I would acquate it to
seeing a steak on your plate and tasting
chicken instead.
fruits like orange peel, apricot and
tangerine dominated the nose. Is this a red
or white wine I’m smelling??? The palate
could best be summed up as strange, thin
and hot with more white wine
characteristics than red. Loads of apricot...
say what???
Comments: Well we successfully found the
imposter in our group. This was the lone
wine from outside the Chateauneuf du Pape
region. Although the blend probably
consisted mostly of Syrah and Grenache,
both of which are red wine grapes, it was
very clear by the taste and smell, the
winemaker used judicious amounts of white
wine varietals in the blend. The most likely
suspects are Viognier and or Marsanne.
Technically speaking there was nothing
wrong with the wine, it did not show any
faults like the previous two, but it stood out
from the rest because of its strange and
awkward taste. I would acquate it to
seeing a steak on your plate and tasting
chicken instead.
| Price - $25.00 |
| Score - B- |
| Around - $39.00 |
| Around - $50.00 |
| Score - B+ |
| Price - $20.00 |
| Score - B+ |
