TNs: Some 1998 Chateauneuf du Papes
Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2014 8:31 pm
A little while back, my family and I visited with some friends and we ended up enjoying a couple of nice wines together over a very nice dinner.
N.V. Domaine Tissot (André & Mireille now Stéphane) Crémant du Jura Extra Brut. This wine presents a sharp, cutting nose of copper minerality, dark citrus and ginger. In the mouth, it is super-dry, bracing and crunchy, with copper, browned apple and bitter citrus flavors. It’s taut, angular and minerally. It’s not a preferred style of mine, as it’s not very welcoming or giving, but it is decidedly palate-cleansing.
1998 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou. Here one encounters a gentle and open nose of herbs de Provence, licorice rope, kirsch, baked cherry and suede leather. In the mouth, it’s totally resolved, with a little leather and spice accent to the baked cherry and dark cranberry fruit. It’s mid-weight, warm and friendly, with a strong streak of tangy acidity. This offers very nice drinking today but it’s starting to slide past its prime, I’d have to say.
1998 Château Fortia Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is light and rather spicy on the nose, with all kinds of birch, sassafras, allspice, cracked pepper, limestone and brambly wild berry aromas. It has a nice blue and purple berry fruit core in the mouth, with a bit of lactic chocolate and mocha sweetness to balance out the spicy elements. It’s a bit thin maybe, and there are no tannins in play, but there’s good pitch and lift to give it some gentle drive. Drink now.
1998 Domaine des Bosquets Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This wine shows the biggest and most popping bouquet of the trio, with strong and layered aromas of cassis, cherry paste, fine leather and dirt pile. In the mouth, there’s a fine grippy concentration to the cherry, strawberry and crabapple flavors, and also a refreshing finishing kick. It will be the longest-lived of the three, but I’d still suggest drinking up now.
2000 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Here one finds a sexy, seductive, rich and heady bouquet full of balsam, eucalyptus, blueberry and black currant aromas. It’s seamless, lush, plush and delightfully sweet-fruited on the palate, where there’s a little bit of oak and vanilla, but also a wonderfully pliant texture and well-balanced alcohol. It’s big, but not over-sized or flabby in any way. Actually, it’s pretty darned delicious and drinking perfectly right now.
-Michael
N.V. Domaine Tissot (André & Mireille now Stéphane) Crémant du Jura Extra Brut. This wine presents a sharp, cutting nose of copper minerality, dark citrus and ginger. In the mouth, it is super-dry, bracing and crunchy, with copper, browned apple and bitter citrus flavors. It’s taut, angular and minerally. It’s not a preferred style of mine, as it’s not very welcoming or giving, but it is decidedly palate-cleansing.
1998 Le Clos du Caillou Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine du Caillou. Here one encounters a gentle and open nose of herbs de Provence, licorice rope, kirsch, baked cherry and suede leather. In the mouth, it’s totally resolved, with a little leather and spice accent to the baked cherry and dark cranberry fruit. It’s mid-weight, warm and friendly, with a strong streak of tangy acidity. This offers very nice drinking today but it’s starting to slide past its prime, I’d have to say.
1998 Château Fortia Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This is light and rather spicy on the nose, with all kinds of birch, sassafras, allspice, cracked pepper, limestone and brambly wild berry aromas. It has a nice blue and purple berry fruit core in the mouth, with a bit of lactic chocolate and mocha sweetness to balance out the spicy elements. It’s a bit thin maybe, and there are no tannins in play, but there’s good pitch and lift to give it some gentle drive. Drink now.
1998 Domaine des Bosquets Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This wine shows the biggest and most popping bouquet of the trio, with strong and layered aromas of cassis, cherry paste, fine leather and dirt pile. In the mouth, there’s a fine grippy concentration to the cherry, strawberry and crabapple flavors, and also a refreshing finishing kick. It will be the longest-lived of the three, but I’d still suggest drinking up now.
2000 Pride Mountain Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley. Here one finds a sexy, seductive, rich and heady bouquet full of balsam, eucalyptus, blueberry and black currant aromas. It’s seamless, lush, plush and delightfully sweet-fruited on the palate, where there’s a little bit of oak and vanilla, but also a wonderfully pliant texture and well-balanced alcohol. It’s big, but not over-sized or flabby in any way. Actually, it’s pretty darned delicious and drinking perfectly right now.
-Michael