TN: Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 1995-2005

Notes from a tightly focused small group tasting of Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée

2004 Gaston Chiquet Special Club Brut Champagne – of course we needed a whistle wetter to kick off and this one was most suitable. Slightly sweet fruit driven nose with faint ginger hints. Quite mature with small bubble mousse that died away a bit with time, good length and a clean dry (but paradoxically caremelly) finish.

We served the wines one by one but always kept ample in each glass to monitor and compare. It was very interesting – our favourite changed several times as the wines opened up in the glass, and they were all superb.

1995 – dark garnet colour lightning at the edges, a nose of nutmeg, tar and blood/iron that became somewhat herbal over the next hour. A complete delicious wine at peak.

2000 – darker, and with quite bit of spice in the nose along with some smoke and coffee. Lighter on palate, opened with time to revel some tar and herb. A lighter style with an elegant finish.

2001 – quite different – dark, and with a market Kirsch black cherry nose that with time added some candied soy and barnyard and old dried rose hints. Sweet entry and a wel balanced wine with excellent concentration and length. An immediate favourite.

2004 – an even darker wine with a bit of cocoa in the nose along with plum and some tobacco hints (it was the wine – the Partagas didn’t come out until later!) With time this one showed more garrigue than what I’d call herbal, and soft tannins in a long finish.

2005 – a different presentation here – a dark wine with a kaleidoscopic presentation in the nose, some chocolate, some tar, and then a segue to dark cherry fruit and a bit of funkiness. Lovely wine that fills the mouth with flavours.

There wasn’t a less than stellar wine in the tasting (which is unusual). The early favourite was the 2001 but over and hour or two as they changes, the 2004 and 2005 also had their advocates.

We enjoyed this one so much that we intend to look at doing some more short verticals, perhaps Donjon, Vieux Telegraphe, Beaucastel, Clos des Papes Cristia etc. We agreed that ending them in the mid 2000 decade made sense in terms of where the wine were likely to be in their development.



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[David M. Bueker]

Opened the 1998 to have with tonight's dinner. Will report back.

As Bill noted, this was an impressive tasting, with all bottles being outstanding. That's a fairly rare occurrence! All wines screamed Pegau, and there was no overt Brett in any of the bottles we had. Most bottles had at least an hour or two decant.

The 1995 was browning in colour, with a really lovely nose with game, iron and leather. Quite northern Rhone-ish. Nice feathery tannins, medium bodied with red fruits and more game, iron and leather. Good intensity. This wine faded a bit over time, though, and this bottle suggested it's time to drink up (A-).

The 2000 was much darker in colour, more full bodied and again with much game, leather, cherry and tar. Drinking really well now (A-).

The 2001 had an even deeper and more intoxicating nose, great mouthfeel and presence. Medium to full bodied, really mouthfilling, and all the fruit and savory flavours really created a wonderful gestalt. The is changed in the glass over a few hours, but was always delicious and impressive (A-/A).

The 2004 was the 'sexiest' wine, open right from the get-go, with lovely earthy cherry notes and that mix of game, iron and garrigue. The high glycerin really gave this a mouthcoating, long finish. This too was a chameleon over time, but always open and excellent. This is a better vintage than I was expecting (A).

The final 2005 had the meatiest of noses, more tannins and more 'youthful' than the others, while still being open for business. Again it morphed over time, but was a delicious, medium to full bodied wine with a powerful presence (A-/A).

It was really hard to pick a favourite, but the 2001, 2004 and 2005 were my top three wines, with the 2004 just being a little more impressive than the rest to me.

An excellent tasting, thanks Bill!

[David M. Bueker]

• 1998 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape (3/18/2022)
  Quick pour after opening was not corked, and also shockingly youthful. Still showing a lot of freshness, and if not so much in the way of primary fruit, at least not full on tertiary. Dinner two hours later brought a fully integrated, savory melange of earth, herb and leather, with a subtle berry fruit compote in the background. Still a bit of back end tannin, but overall a gentle mouthfeel that has just the right amount of structure to hold everything in place. Drinking very well now with a bit of air, and no worries about further cellar time. It’s not going anywhere.

Posted from CellarTracker

My experience with 1998 Pegau was identical to RMP. It took many more years to integrate and mellow out. I drank all my 1999's and some of my 2000's and 2001 before my remaining 1998's. The 2002's were, of course, a disaster and should never have been released. Sorry I bought a few. I drank my last 1998 last summer at MoCool and it was just as fabulous and vibrant as David mentions with lots of life ahead of it.

[David M. Bueker]

I had three or four bottles of the 2002 back in the day. They were cheap ($20 ish) and decent bistro wine.

Losing an entire vintage is a sore blow to a small producer. They likely had to do something to get to the next vintage.

I was lucky enough to obtain a 75cl sized barrel sample of the 2001 in its extreme youth. I still remember how vibrantly fresh, bold and spicy it was at that stage. From these TNs it has obviously matured as it should.

Interesting no mention of brett.
I thought I still had 00 and 01 Pegau, but looks like Charvin was what I remembered.