2005 Domaine de Saint Siffrein Châteauneuf-du-Pape

• By Josh Raynolds
  January/February 2008, IWC Issue #136, (See more on Vinous...)

  (Domaine de Saint Siffrein Chateauneuf du Pape) Login and sign up and see review text.

Garagiste

• By Jon Rimmerman
  10/6/2009, (See more on Garagiste...)

  (Chateauneuf-du-Pape St SIFFREIN) UPDATE: Blind Tasting For those of you that have not seen this recap of the EWS 2005 Bordeaux tasting, it's worth a look. There is no substitute for actually tasting wine IN BOTTLE after it has aged and/or recovered from bottling and shipping to the US (if a young wine). I have been spouting off for over a decade on the importance of reading the actual tasting notes versus simply scrolling down a list of highly scored wines and ordering the highest score/lowest price (as many consumers do, especially with Bordeaux futures) - this tasting recap reaffirms that notion (link below). In so many cases, scores given to a wine just after bottling have little bearing on the wine you will actually drink (post-shipping/bottling/several years later). Trust the community's reaction and/or read the tasting notes carefully - do not buy based on scores or you are setting yourself up for disappointment. The verbiage in any review is far more pertinent to you and your potential enjoyment of the wine than the score alone. If you are buying as an investment, that is a different story - the original bottle score will always follow the wine, well into adulthood, justified or not. The EWS 2005 Bordeaux tasting was post-bottling/post-shipping to the US and all bottles had the requisite amount of time to throw off their rangy youth and/or discomfort from international travel. In other words, the results could be interpreted as a far more accurate assessment of each wine as it exists today in the US (albeit, on one night) rather than the printed scores bestowed a year and a half ago. As you will see, Parker's experience last week with the 2005's (blind) was dramatically different than in April of 2008: http://www.drvino.com/2009/10/02/blind-tasting-bordeaux-2005-robert-parker/ - Jon Rimmerman ********************************* Chateauneuf-du-Pape Dear Friends, I've had loads of inquires about my St. Siffrein tasting and requests for the wine that finished first in the vertical (I only mentioned the Siffrein tasting in one sentence a week or two ago but it appears that many of you read every word very closely) - my instinct tells me a number of you have previous vintages in your cellar from this producer and are curious about the bottles and their evolution. As additional evidence to my UPDATE above, this furthers the notion that you need to open corks and actually taste the wine instead of just reading numerical scores (see wine that finished #2, the 1998 vintage, originally an 88pt wine). On this night, all vintages were tasted blind with one double blind entrant (the 1995). We were told all vintages from 1998-2007 were present but, in reality, 2002 was absent and instead they inserted the 1995. The order of finish with brief notes: 1) 2005 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (all class and breed, medium-weight, lovely, ahead of the pack by a wide margin) 2) 1998 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (outstanding, at peak, gorgeous aromatics, originally a WA88) 3) 2006 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (surprising for a 2006, really excellent quality and very well priced) 4) 2007 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (will be excellent - a fun-house yang to the 2005's yin of nobility) 5) 1995 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (double blind entrant, very good indeed and ever so slightly past peak, 1999?) 6) 2001 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (very good with slightly hard tannins - expected a bit more from this top year) 7) 1999 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (another 1999 that showed very well - at peak and a joy to drink today) 8) 2004 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (not quite as good as the 1999 but cut from a similar cloth - enjoyable) 9) 2000 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (disappointing in lieu of the vintage, seems in an angular place - check back?) 10) 2003 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape (dried fruit is apparent and blowsy Grenache tells me this is a fast-evolving 2003) Normally, I would just print this report and not attempt to parlay it into a "sale" of some kind but I know you will ask so here you go - the last of the 2005 available at a pass-through price (basically no margin) - if I'm going to parlay this exercise it may as well be in keeping with our co-operative mantra. While very good for $35-45 (the price it should be, even from us), at $26+ it's eye-opening. This wine has such feminine grace and finely detailed, sifted tannins that its presence reminds me of something like Margaux Jr made from Syrah, Grenache et al. This wine is from a great year - a year that will be argued for decades as better than 2007 once the two vintages have time to age beyond their 10th birthday. The medium weight style of the wine is enviable, if not difficult to find in Chateauneuf circa 2009 and there's not much I can say that is a negative. In addition, the 2005 may not the biggest wine but that may be its finest attribute (in a region that has taken the opposite approach of late). The two years of additional bottle age have served this wine very well - the tannins have begun to melt and the voluptuous fruit noted above has faded into a more refined, complex wine. So, is his note accurate? Somewhat - probably when it was penned but not today. Two years on, the wine is an adolescent versus a toddler - it has a wider vocabulary and walks with an upright gate but still has much to learn - you can see its potential more clearly than when it was learning to crawl. Today, what was once a boisterous toddler in now a confident, sophisticated young adult that parent Claude Chastan can be proud of. This parcel is directly from the winery cellar with impeccable provenance. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED as one of the great no-fuss buys of the region: 2005 St. Siffrein Chateauneuf-du-Pape Thank you, Jon Rimmerman Garagiste Seattle, WA Rhone4399