Stephen Tanzer's International
Wine Cellar, Jan/Feb 07
($100) Opaque ruby.
Incredibly powerful bouquet encompasses cherry, blackberry, cassis, candied
plum, dark chocolate, licorice and garrigue Positively mouthfilling, with
potent, liqueur-like dark fruit, licorice and mocha flavors, but also with
surprising freshness and cut. As weighty as this is, there's a sense of
elegance, too. Finishes juicy, sweet and impressively long, with persistent
cassis and blackberry flavors. Wow! 95 points
Robert Parker's
Wine Advocate #163, Feb 06
($95) Fashioned from 80-year old Grenache
vines and small amounts of barrique-aged Syrah and Mourvedre, the 2004 Chateauneuf
du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes boasts a saturated ruby/purple color along
with notes of creme de cassis, raspberries, white flowers, and a subtle
touch of pain grille. It possesses high tannin, dense, full-bodied flavors,
and a long, persistent finish. Give it 4-5 years of bottle age and enjoy
it over the following two decades.
92-94
points
Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar, Jan/Feb 06
Deep, dark red.
Powerful aromas of ripe blackberry, kirsch, blackcurrant, dark
chocolate, smoked meat and candied licorice. Outsized, rich and
velvety, with remarkably concentrated flavors of plum jam, cassis, ripe
cherry and cocoa powder. This is a massive wine in terms of flavor,
weight and structure but there is superb focus and energy too. A
remarkable young Chateauneuf that appears destined for a long, positive
development in bottle. 94-96 points
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