Tasting Notes
Vinous 96
Inky ruby. Room-filling bouquet evokes dark cherry, boysenberry, graphite, fresh lavender and anise. Palate-staining red and dark berry liqueur flavors are uncannily fresh and precise, managing to be both hugely concentrated and strikingly fresh at once. With its echoing notes of sweet dark berry preserves and minerals, this stunning wine doesn’t ever seem to finish.
Robert Parker 99
The tiny production 2005 Châteauneuf du Pape la Plume du Peintre is a monumental wine. Coming all from the La Crau lieu-dit and made from 100% Grenache aged 30% in small barrels and 70% in stainless steel tanks, it offers massive amounts of cassis, blueberry, licorice, graphite and spice, full-bodied richness, building tannin and a youthful, unevolved profile that’s hard to believe. It won’t hit maturity for another 4-5 years and will keep through 2035+. This is a singular Châteauneuf du Pape that I wish every reader could taste; unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to find in the market.
Anticipated maturity: 2018-2035