WTN: More SemiCool - a dozen 1998 CdPs and other Rhones

[Robin Garr]

SemiCool 1998 Rhone tasting

First chapter of the afternoon "picnic" at the Hawthorne is now history, as proceedings begain with a tasting of a dozen Chateauneuf-du-Papes and other Rhones, all from the 1998 vintage, contributed by revelers. It was a generous act of sharing by many parties, and few complaints were heard.

From a coldly critical wine-geek standpoint, there's some support for the early concerns that the big, happy 1998s wouldn't age as well as more classically styled Chateauneuf: Many of these are browning and showing hints of maderization before their time. But even the few more "tired" items were still very enjoyable, far from dead; and a couple are going very strong indeed.

Now the event will move on into the controlled chaos of "picnic" mode, with everyone sharing excellent wine and food. More to come in later reports.

<b>Other Rhones (and a neighbor)</b>

Domaine Delubac Cairanne Cotes du Rhone Villages - Hazy garnet. Berries, earthy. Mature.

La Grand Montmirail Gigondas Les Bruneau - Pretty, translucent garnet, clear bronze edge. Perfumed. Peppery. Past peak.

Domaine Les Pallières Gigondas - black fruit and fragrant black pepper, delicious.

<b>Chateauneuf-du-Pape</b>

Chateau La Nerthe - Looks brown but tastes fine. Dried tobacco leaf. Ripe and sweet, mature, a bit "porty" but delicious.

Grand Veneur - Brown, looks dead. Berry fruit remains, good dark chocolate, but it's on its last legs.

Domaine du Lys "Penelope" VdP des Cévennes - Black. Grilled meat, pepper, very nice. Going strong.

Vieux-Telegraphe - Brown. A lot of nutlike maderization. Opened 24 hours ago, fine then but went dowhill fast.

Pegau - Ruby, bronze edge. Plums, smoke, a whiff of barnyard, ripe and sweet, still plenty of soft lmannins. Holding up very well. Best to this point.

Bois de Boursan - Reddish-violet, bronze edge. Red fruit and meat, good structure and length.

Chateau de la Gardine - Translucent purple, brick edge. Black fruit and smoked meat, most well-preserved yet. Deep fruit and fragrant pepper, fine structure and balance.

Chateau de Beaucastel - Bronzing, maderization cutting around the edges on the nose. Still splendid on the palate, though, deep fruit and relatively discreet Beaucastel barnyard.

Domaine de Pegau Cuvee Laurence - Dark purple. Perfumed, still young. Ripe, structured, lots of fruit and tannin. Could use still more time. Excellent, best of the flight.

Thanks very much for these notes, Robin. I had a number of these wines in their youth, most of which I now have in the cellar. A few comments:

Grand Veneur - Brown, looks dead. Berry fruit remains, good dark chocolate, but it's on its last legs.

This estate is one that Parker touted heavily IIRC. I think that I might even have had this wine at a tasting long ago. I find it revealing that one of his favorites is the most evolved given the concerns surrounding the "Parkerization" of various regions.

Vieux-Telegraphe - Brown. A lot of nutlike maderization. Opened 24 hours ago, fine then but went dowhill fast.

Given the low acidity of the vintage, I think that a 24 hour decant is a bit too optimistic for all but the most backward of the '98s. Or perhaps I misunderstood what you wrote. I'd be surprised if the VT is that close to senility based on my early impressions of the wine.

Pegau - Ruby, bronze edge. Plums, smoke, a whiff of barnyard, ripe and sweet, still plenty of soft lmannins. Holding up very well. Best to this point.

No surprise that there's a lot of soft tannins left: when I tasted this wine shortly after release, it was positively coffee-like in the way it coated my mouth with tannins. They weren't particularly hard, even back then, but they were voluminous. What I do find particularly interesting is that the Cuvée Laurence seems so much younger since it spends an extra year en foudre and usually seems less fruity and more developed on release. Again, it cuts to the heart of what makes for an ageworthy wine: the extra tannins picked up from the increased contact with oak must have helped the CL resist aging.

Bois de Boursan - Reddish-violet, bronze edge. Red fruit and meat, good structure and length.

Chateau de la Gardine - Translucent purple, brick edge. Black fruit and smoked meat, most well-preserved yet. Deep fruit and fragrant pepper, fine structure and balance.

Good to hear about both of these. The '78 la Gardine was my first encounter with CdP, and it was love at first sight. I tend to only buy it in "big" years, though, as it can be rather simple and uninteresting in lesser years. The Bois de Boursan OTOH is just good, honest, no-nonsense CdP.

Chateau de Beaucastel - Bronzing, maderization cutting around the edges on the nose. Still splendid on the palate, though, deep fruit and relatively discreet Beaucastel barnyard.

Now this really shocks me. I'd have thought that the extra Mourvedre in Beaucastel would make it more backward than most other '98s, but it doesn't sound as if that was the case at all. The deep fruit is no shock, though.

Again, thanks very much for this update. It's always good to hear about how the wines in your cellar are doing without having to sacrifice too many of your own bottles.

Sorry I couldn't be there to join you,
Mark Lipton

[Robin Garr]

Thoughtful comments, Mark. You are correct, the V-T had been opened the night before and really shouldn't have been. I don't think that TN is particularly determinative, other than to point out that the 98 appears unable to stay alive in the bottle overnight, which certainly speaks against its youthfulness.

The Beaucastel got so much better after 15 to 30 minutes that I'm inclined to attribute its early showing to some kind of bottle funk. (A '94 Beaucastel, reported in my notes for the rest of the afternoon here, was excellent, for what it's worth.)

Finally, and most important, remember that these were wines from a variety of cellars, recently transported shorter or greater distanceds. Provenance and cellaring conditions likely varied, and in tastings of this type, the effect of this issue can't be underestimated.

Still, for what it's worth, the overall tendency toward browning and signs of age in a random selection of 98s was worthy of note. And more interesting still, although still random, both Gigondas seemed much more youthful.