Chateauneuf-du-Pape "La Crau", Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe 2000.
Our companion wine for the evening is Chateauneuf-du-Pape“La Crau,” Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, 2000. The lieu-dit of La Crau provides the epitome of Grenache Noir with supporting roles of nine other varieties in a consummate blend. Still tight, slow yielding, packed with black fruit and taut with tannic grip, there’s a dusting of black pepper, cured tobacco, a trace of smoke and just a hint of sweet cherry in this complex wine. It’s a big wine, high in alcohol but it carries it well.
Even after the years of aging the Vieux Telegraphe has an initial bright freshness to it, a clarity of expression, a focus that handles the richness of the food perfectly, providing balance and counterpoint. Volatile and exuberant at first, it settles down quickly to opaque density that recalls the memory of home-made pemmican in my childhood, assorted berries pounded together with dried, smoked meat, flavors mingled and inseparably melded.
The wine is perfect for the cassoulet, both sauce and accent. The two bottles, both pristine, are easily drained, with Mark getting the final dregs, gladly, not complaining one bit.