I was in Paris last week and had the pleasure of joining one of the local wine circles (the Très Grand Jury Parisien for those who know them from other wine boards) for their Christmas celebration/exploration of 2000 Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Now I don’t drink much Châteauneuf (only a few bottles since I last visited these folks a few years ago for their exploration of 1998 CdP), but I have an open mind and an eager palate!
We started with a bottle of 1996 Jacquesson Champagne which was pleasant enough for those who need bubbles. It was not completely ‘shot’ but it was sufficiently oxidized to be disturbing for my palate. A second bottle opened later was much fresher and more interesting, but still not all that interesting.
Pierre-Alain is a certified Leroy Booster so we then moved on to 2003 Richard Leroy Anjou Rouliers and 2003 Richard Leroy Anjou Noëls de Montbenault. Obviously the vintage was a challenge and the Rouliers was plagued with volatile acidity which made it near impossible to drink. The Montbenault was better, in the sense that it was not violently flawed. But it was still too soft and blobby to excite much enthusiasm and everyone was ready to sit down to dinner and start drinking red.
We began with truffle risotto and 2000 Pégau and 2000 Pierre André. The Pégau was deeply fruited (to say the least!) but was way too dark, heavy, and alcoholic for most of us at the table. The Pierre André was a perfect contrast because it was so fresh, delicate, and subtle. It was one of my favorite CdPs of the night. It was also my first exposure to the domaine so I didn’t have the perspective of other folks, who mentioned that they can be quite erratic across vintages. But, on this night, it was a lovely and welcome bottle of wine.
The main course was lièvre à la royale, which was apparently perfectly seasoned to go with the CdPs. I wouldn’t know because as a non-meat eater they prepared me porcini-stuffed potatoes, but those were also seasoned pretty darn well to match the wines. We started with 2000 Charvin and 2000 Ferrand which were both very pleasing wines. The Ferrand was nice, well-structured, with decent freshness, but it was tough to compete with the Charvin, so precise, long, intense, delicate, and it was very quickly emptied.
We then moved to the more expensive wines. Unfortunately, the 2000 Beaucastel had too much brett to convince anyone and the 2000 Clos des Papes had too much of everything to convince anyone. The Pégau was probably a ‘darker’ wine, but somehow this Clos des Papes managed to be a bigger blobbier mess. And the natives quickly began demanding better wine.
So Pierre-Alain raced to the cellar and came back with 2000 Marcoux and 2000 Vieux Donjon. We drank these with second servings of the main course and delightfully delicious Vacherin Mont d’Or. The Marcoux was fabulous, balanced, and a pleasure to drink (although detailed critical abilities were slowly/quickly beginning to fade). It didn’t take an expert to see that the Vieux Donjon was marked by weird vegetal notes so that never really found its audience.
We started the chocolate terrine and red pepper confiture with 2005 Gauby Rivesaltes Caricia and 1985 Graham’s Port. The Graham’s was in a moment of delicate harmony and was a perfect match with the dessert. The Gauby was a volatile mess than nobody wanted to drink so Pierre-Alain returned once more to the cellar and came back with 1997 Sandeman Port which was much younger and more aggressive but it did its job.
Various other drinks and single-malts began to circulate, but I had just a few tastes because I had to get up ‘early’ in the morning for work. But regardless of those pesky details, the night was a Châteauneufy success.