This is really, really good. stylistically, much younger and more primary than I tend to appreciate. That being said, the fruit flavours here are so vibrant and lush. There are layers of different berry fruits and darker flavours supported by a subtle but strong vein of minerality and fantastic tannin / acid structure. Exquisitely balanced.
Look forward to watching this one evolve. A pleasure to drink now and I assume will evolve positively to gain some tertiary elements over the next couple decades.
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Three vintages of Clos des Papes side by side. The 1976 (86pts) has seen better days and this bottle was long past peak. Beside some shy notes of fruit and some faint tobacco and earthy notes, there is not much there. The 2007 (91pts) showed well, one of the better bottles I‘ve had as it was not completely cooked and overripe. Nice complexity and precision but still a bit too much on every level. The 2016 (93pts) was the best of the three. This bottle showed some of the intricate fresh blue and black forest fruit this vintage showed a few years ago, a nice minerality is there too. The acidity is on a good level but sadly there are some alcohol notes too. The 2016s were best right after bottling.
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4/17/2024 - Eric wrote:
Châteauneuf-du-Pape with my boy!; 4/15/2024-4/17/2024 (Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, France): 16% and advertises it a bit with some plum and faintly dried prune notes on nose. Mmmm, very ripe but also spicy, white pepper, a very full vintage, reminds me quite a bit of their truly excellent (albeit slightly controversial) 2003.
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4/1/2024 - rpk99 Likes this wine: 96 Points
May open more w some time but so silky smooth and wonderful, Lucious finish, one of the best,
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2/10/2024 - smveluv Likes this wine: 93 Points
This is really, really good. stylistically, much younger and more primary than I tend to appreciate. That being said, the fruit flavours here are so vibrant and lush. There are layers of different berry fruits and darker flavours supported by a subtle but strong vein of minerality and fantastic tannin / acid structure. Exquisitely balanced.
Look forward to watching this one evolve. A pleasure to drink now and I assume will evolve positively to gain some tertiary elements over the next couple decades.
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1/12/2024 - empire80 Likes this wine:
Hard to score at this young age. Very dense, thick black fruit and thick tannin, hides its 15.5% pretty well. Bodes well..
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11/3/2023 - Cailles wrote: 93 Points
Three vintages of Clos des Papes side by side. The 1976 (86pts) has seen better days and this bottle was long past peak. Beside some shy notes of fruit and some faint tobacco and earthy notes, there is not much there. The 2007 (91pts) showed well, one of the better bottles I‘ve had as it was not completely cooked and overripe. Nice complexity and precision but still a bit too much on every level. The 2016 (93pts) was the best of the three. This bottle showed some of the intricate fresh blue and black forest fruit this vintage showed a few years ago, a nice minerality is there too. The acidity is on a good level but sadly there are some alcohol notes too. The 2016s were best right after bottling.
4 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Comment