By: AJ McClellan
We had a great tasting Friday night with Harry Karis author of “The Chateauneuf du Pape Wine Book”. The tasting was very educational for me as I have not had a lot of older CDP wines. When I first opened the bottles I was surprised to find that they all smelt like they were cooked. Each wine was full of roasted notes with a load of brett and very unattractive earthy aromas. After three hours in the bottle the wines opened up losing much of the roasted/brett notes but it was still prevalent on many of the wines…
1985 Janasse white – Very nutty on the nose and palate with honey notes and a fat body that does not have quite enough acidity to be in balance.
1959 Patris – Immediately on the nose big notes of compost, earth, and tar. After being allowed to open up some the wine took on dark spice notes with stewed plums. This was a very interesting wine because it changed several times in the glass. I don’t know if I can say that I liked it a lot but it was defiantly interesting…
1964 Mont-Redon – Surprisingly fresh with sour cherry, leather, cigar smoke, star anise, burnt rubber, dark moist soil, and dry cedar on the nose. This was one of my favorite wines of the tasting.
1969 Fortia – Very vegetal on the nose and palate with freshly cut grass and big asparagus notes. The wine was very brash assaulting the senses with black tar, mossy log, and cooked black fruits.
1969 Delas Freres – This CDP was very smokey right out of the gate with big spice notes and a forest full of wood notes. There was a smell that reminded me of moth balls on the finish and a sliver of black plums and cherries hiding behind all the earth and wood notes.
1970 Mont-Redon – This was the other favorite of the tasting. Pleasant notes of dried red fruit on the nose melting into a gravely minerality on the palate with a warm forest floor finish. There were also notes of dried cracked leather and black pepper.
1973 Cave Saint Pierre Reserve – Stewed red fruits with moldy leather straps and dust covered raspberries. Very faded on the back end with little to no finish.
1979 Cabrieres – Big matchstick on the nose followed by burnt hay and dried black fruits. The tannins were still hard on this wine making it a little out of balance.
1979 Fortia – when I first opened the wines this one was my favorite but as all the wines opened up this wine did not do as well as I thought it would. There was some concern of TCA on this wine, I cannot tell whether or not the wine was afflicted with cork but I can say that I still enjoyed the wine. Roasted strawberries and cherries with some notes of game and subtle forest floor with tilled earth. The palate showed barnyard notes with hay bale and a long tobacco finish.
1981 Janasse – This wine was full of funk, and not the kind that makes you want to dance… the first thing that hits you is the massive note of fresh cow patty followed by leathery tannins and big iron on the finish.
1986 Lucien Barrot – Back to soft tannins with crushed red fruits, liquorish, wet pipe tobacco, and animal pelt on the back end.
1989 Banneret – With a little less age on the wine the funk has taken a backseat to the fruit and spice of the wine. Still some barnyard on the palate with sandalwood, cigar, and a woody finish.
1990 Chante Cigale – Big ripe fruit with tobacco, white pepper, red roses, and clove notes.
