Only produced in top vintages (this is the first since 2012), the 2015 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines comes from 80-year-old vines within the La Fontaine lieu-dit. It's a tough wine to evaluate at this stage, as it's quite... Read More
Starting with his 2011 Cornas, it's a rocking wine in the vintage that's still showing every bit as well as it did on release. Massive minerality, violets, bloody meat and sweet blackcurrant and black raspberry-like fruit... Read More
Two great back to back vintages are the 1990 and 1989. The more developed 1990 boasts an incredible perfume of hickory wood, coffee, smoked meat, Asian spices, black cherries, and blackberries. Lush, opulent, and full-bodied,... Read More
The opaque ruby/purple-colored 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape offers a profoundly sweet perfume of melted licorice, blackberries, and black cherries backed up by loads of glycerin, full body, and moderately high but sweet, well-integrated... Read More
The 2004 Châteauneuf du Pape Hommage À Jacques Perrin continues to show well, and was even more open from this bottle than from one earlier this year. While still youthful, it has beautiful complexity and depth on the palate,... Read More
The Cuvee Centenaire is produced from ancient vine (planted in 1889) Grenache (80% of the blend, along with 8% Syrah and 12% Mourvedre). The 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Centenaire is superior to the 2000, but slightly behind... Read More
The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc Extrait is a stunning blend of 80% Roussanne and 20% Grenache Blanc, matured in concrete and demi-muids. This medium to full-bodied wine is lush and creamy on the palate yet stays zesty and fresh,... Read More
The 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape blanc (80% Roussanne and the rest Marsanne, Picpoul, and Bourboulenc) possesses classic notes of orange marmalade, honeysuckle, and rose petals, a full-bodied, unctuous texture, gorgeous purity and... Read More
WA 98 (10/2008): The 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape is one of the two or three candidates for the wine of the vintage. An extraordinarily great wine, the 2006 is far superior to the 2005, which was amazing, and while made in a different... Read More
Considered by Paul-Vincent to be a hypothetical blend of the '05 and the '07, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape was showing its Mourvedre component on this occasion and had lots of kirsch, spice-box, dried flowers, Provencal... Read More
The 1999 Cote Rotie Chateau d'Ampuis is a knockout bottle of wine that gives up gorgeously mature aromas and flavors of kirsch, blackberry, game, olive and spice in its medium-bodied, seamless and elegant profile. It's... Read More
While the 2014 Cote Rotie La Landonne looked like the pick of the litter from barrel, now that it's in bottle, it's closed down a bit and is showing more of its stemmy, whole-bunch character. Medium to full-bodied, it's... Read More
Just as good, but made in a completely different style, the 2009 Cote Rotie la Mouline (which incorporates a whopping 11% of Viognier) offers an insane bouquet of roasted meats, toast, spice, caramelized meats, coffee bean and... Read More
WA 96-99 Points - Scheduled to be bottled early in 2015, the 2011 Cote Rotie La Mouline is more perfumed, exuberant and approachable than the 2010. It exhibits a crazy bouquet of spice-box, vanilla bean, spring flowers and sweet... Read More
The 2013 Cote Rotie La Mouline shows none of the vintage's sometimes dry tannins. It offers crisp black fruit--plums and blackberries--underscored by hints of pencil shavings, espresso and grilled meat. Suave and long, it... Read More
A blast of roasted herb, licorice, and black fruit scents jump from the glass of this full-bodied, superconcentrated 1987. Very pure, with some pain grille notes from new oak still present, this thick, juicy wine is soft, but... Read More
Deep purple-colored, with grilled meat and smoky, barbecue-like aromas beginning to emerge, along with lavishly ripe scents of black plums and cassis, the 1988 La Turque is not quite as suppressed aromatically as La Mouline. This... Read More
The 2013 Cote Rotie La Turque is a bit firm, austere and cool. It's medium-bodied and tannic, with some drying notes on the finish that suggest further cellaring is warranted. Yes, it shows ample concentration and complex... Read More
Concentrated as well as aromatic, the 2001 Cote Rotie offers up scents of wild game, roasted meats, animal fur, berry fruit, and mountain flowers. Full-bodied, thick, concentrated, and tannic, it cuts a broad swath across the... Read More
As usual, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Chaupin displays more red fruit than the main bottling, being 100% Grenache from sandier soils. Raspberries and cherries appear on the nose alongside subtle hints of garrigue. The full-bodied... Read More
And a candidate for the wine of the vintage, the 2011 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes is always a rough blend of 85% Grenache and the balance Syrah, Mourvedre, Clairette and other permitted varieties, that has the Grenache... Read More
he magnificent 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes continues the string of successes under this label. While a bit less expressive on the nose than the other cuvées, it's impossibly voluminous on the palate. Full-bodied... Read More
The 1989 is finally beginning to reveal all its glory. When I arrived at 6:00 p.m., September 11, 2001, at Domaine Chave, I found Chave in tears and his family distraught. I had heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center,... Read More
When I arrived at 6:00 p.m., September 11, 2001, at Domaine Chave, I found Chave in tears and his family distraught. I had heard about the attacks on the World Trade Center, but not the subsequent collapse of both towers. Gerard... Read More