Tasting Notes
Vinous 93
Red-ruby. Raspberry liqueur, game and exotic woodsmoke on the nose. Large-scaled, powerful and dense, with an impressive, solid core of almost medicinal black cherry and dark berry fruit. Very deep, rich, young Chateauneuf with strong but ripe palate-coating tannins and superb persistence. This will reward seven to ten years of cellaring.
Robert Parker 99
More precise and focused than the more exuberant, sexy and rounded ’00, the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul is borderline perfection (I seriously considered adding a point here) and a monumental Chateauneuf du Pape that is drinking at point. Kirsch, olive tapenade, roasted meats, tobacco and assorted mature Grenache characteristics give way to a full-bodied, massively endowed, concentrated, gorgeously layered wine that’s just about as good as it gets. I kept coming back to this over the evening and it got better and better with air, so while fully mature, it’s not going anywhere soon.
Anticipated maturity: 2015-2021