Wine Vault: 19th Hole-France

The Wines:

1981 Chateau Beaucastel

1986 La Landonne- Guigal

1989 Domaine Pegau "Cuvee Reserve" Chateauneuf du Pape

1991 Cornas Vieilles Vignes- Alain Voge

1991 Chave Hermitage

1993 Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape

1995 La Chapelle de Bebian

1995 Chateau Beaucastel

1982 Salon le Mesnil

1982 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune

1981 Chateau Beaucaste

The 1981 vintage of Beaucastel has been one of my favorites for years. Between 1970 and 1989, I can think of no other vintage that approaches the heights that fine bottles of the 1981 can attain. 1981's greatness lies in its stunning purity of blackberry fruit, its Pauillac-like tobacco, truffle and mineral tones, and its stunning elegance. This particular bottle was not quite perfect, with a little more of Beaucastel's gamey side showing, but still excellent. The bouquet offered up scents of cassis, tobacco, grilled venison, tree bark, leather, earth, herb tones, pepper and spicy wood. Full-bodied and beautifully resolved on the palate, with fine focus, melting tannins, and a long, complex finish. I have had better bottles, but, believe me, I am not complaining about this bottle. 1997-2007. 92.

1986 La Landonne- Guigal

I have been fortunate to have accrued quite a bit of experience tasting Guigal single vineyard wines over the years, and I continue to be shocked by the overall quality of these wines, irregardless of the quality of the general vintages. 1986 and 1987 continue to be two vintages where I look hard for these wines, as their price relative to the more exalted years such as 1983, 1985, 1988, 1989, 1990, and 1991 tends to be more moderate. It had been a few years since I had tasted the 1986 La Landonne, and the wine is moving forward quite nicely. Evolving into a medium-full, deeply black fruity and meaty Cote-Rotie of noteworthy depth and complexity, this particular La Landonne offers up a stellar bouquet of sweet cassis, plums, grilled meats, bitter chocolate, ground pepper, herb tones, smoke, and toasty, nutty oak. Marginally slight by single vineyard standards (but by no means a light wine), the `86 La Landonne still delivers layers of ripe, peppery black fruit, melting tannins, haunting focus, a thick core of fruit, and a very, very long, complex finish. I would guess that this wine will continue to develop more complexity over the next four or five years, but in terms of palate texture and approachability, it is certainly into its window of drinkability. A great ride. 1997-2015. 94+.

1989 Domaine Pegau "Cuvee Reserve" Chateauneuf du Pape

Pegau's 1989 remains one of the most stubborn, backward, and impressive Chanteauneuf's of the `89 vintage. The nose is very deep, ripe and complex, with scents of black raspberry, cassis, coffee, fruitcake, tobacco, herb tones, pepper, and cedary, spicy wood. Deep and brooding on the palate, with layers of black fruit, fine focus, bright acids, and a long, complex, thick and powerfully tannic finish. Drinking this wines right now is akin to chewing through it, but the layers of `89's thick fruit on display here make it possible. This is clearly one of the major wines of the vintage in Chateauneuf, but like many of the great 1978 wines from this region, this bottle is very grumpy when disturbed during its adolescence. I would opt for forgetting this wine in a corner of the cellar for another five to seven years, minimum, before expecting it to kiss back when the cork is pulled. 2002-2025. 93.

1991 Cornas Vieilles Vignes- Alain Voge

how riveting these wine swill be over the middle term. Voge's house style is for an extremely elegant, suave interpretation of Cornas, and the 1991 Vieilles Vignes delivers this style in spades. The bouquet offers up scents of sweet, vivid raspberry fruit, grilled meats, pepper, floral topnotes, minerals, and cedary, spicy wood. Full-bodied and quite bright on the palate, with a pure core of fruit, moderate tannins, tangy acids, and a long, complex, bouncy finish. As is often the case with a Voge Cornas, this wines shares more than a passing resemblance to Burgundy in terms of structure. Quite tasty now, this wine will be even better with another couple fo years cellaring. 1999-2015. 091.

1991 Chave Hermitage

For drinking now, one is hard pressed to think of a finer vintage of Chave. The `91 has softened at a brisk (and uncharacteristically Chavian) pace, and is now drinking magically at age six. The nose is stunning, with scents of sweet raspberry fruit, cassis, smoked meats, black pepper, coffee, autumnal notes, herbs, minerals, roses and spicy wood. Full-bodied, though not massive on the palate, with sweet, creamy fruit on the attack, a solid core in the middle, and a long, opulent, softly-tannic finish. This is a delicious Chave for mid-term consumption, that reminds me of a hypothetical blend of 1993 and 1988. Enjoy this beautiful wine over the next decade. 1997-2007. 93.

1993 Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf du Pape

Mont Olivet has consistently been one of my favorite Chateauneuf domaines. Their track record since the 1981 vintage has been absolutely brilliant, with the only hiccup, to my mind, the larger than life and strangely lifeless "Cuvee de Papet" reserve bottlings of 1989 and 1990. However, the glories of Grenache, which Mont Olivet's regular bottling revels in, are once again on display in copious quantities in the 1993. Scents of crushed raspberries, boatloads of pepper, grilled meats, herbal notes, and hot stones soar from the glass. There is no mistaking this for anything other than top flight Chateauneuf. Deep, full and peppery on the palate, with a huge core of fruit, moderate tannins, fine balance, and a long, complex, peppery finish. The `93 Mont Olivet is drinking beautifully now, and should continue to impress for another decade. 1997-2010. 91.

1995 La Chapelle de Bebian

This is the second wine of St. Jean de Bebian, one of the up and coming stars of the Coteaux du Languedoc. The La Chapelle is younger vines that are vinified in a more forward style than that of the Grand Vin. A blend of syrah, grenache and cinsault, the `95 La Chapelle de Bebian is made for early drinkability, but it is by no means a wimpy wine. This is a big, robust, Chateauneuf-like wine is terms of weight and richness, with a lovely bouquet of plummy fruit, roasted meats, coffee, garrigues, pepper, wood smoke, and hints of cedar. Deep, full and simmering with fruit on the palate, with plenty of game and Provencal herb notes as well. The finish is long, thick and moderately tannic. While this wine is a bit four-square and chunky right now, it seems to have the wherewithal to develop more shape and nuance once it sees a bit of time in the bottle. Good stuff. 1997-2005. 88.

1995 Chateau Beaucastel

I must be tasting these young Beaucastel's too soon after shipping, as this is the third straight vintage where I have been underwhelmed. It may be me, but since the 1988-1990 vintages, I have not found the accustomed level of depth, concentration and stuffing in the wines that was routinely attained by Beaucastel. And it is not just the twin towers of 1989 and 1990 to which I am referring- I will take the 1985 and 1988 over the 1995 any day! The `95 Beaucastel is strangely dull and soft, with a lack of acidity which to my palate that gives the wine a rather uni-dimensional, linear impression. I miss the succulence and brightness of fruit of earlier releases. The nose is reasonably complex, with scents fo sweet blackberry fruit, shoe polish, pepper, herb tones, chocolate, game, and a noticeable note of new oak. On the palate the wine is very polished and complex, but alarmingly soft and flat, without any bounce on the moderately-tannic finish. Is it possible that the 1995 vintage (like the 1994 before it) did not provide the raw materials to warrant the risk of making a Cuvee Jacques Pepin reserve bottling? Beaucastel used to routinely deliver more depth than this wine. If this is representative, Beaucastel's continuing move up the price ladder does not bother me in the least, as I am not buying the wine. The 1995 La Vieille Julienne Vieilles Vignes is worlds above this wine. 2000-2015? 88.

1982 Salon le Mesnil

Salon is certainly one of the great wines of Champagne, and yet, as magnificent as the wine can be, I often experience a shocking degree of bottle variation with these wines. Given the price level and the obvious commitment to quality at this house, the frequent occurrence of bottle variation is rather perplexing. This particular bottle of `82 Salon was certainly delicious, though I would rank it in the low middle of bottles of this wine I have had over the past three or four years. The nose is lovely, complex, and (in this particular bottle) beginning to develop secondary layers of aroma and flavor. The bouquet offers up scents of ripe apples, bread dough, lemon, lovely, chalky minerals, and a floral topnote. Full-bodied, round, complex and beautifully balanced on the palate, with excellent delineation, fine, pinpoint bubbles, and a long, crisp, and for this wine, a surprisingly gentle finish. Perfect bottles of this wine have shown much more depth and power on the palate, as well as a much firmer girdle of acidity, and a lovely aromatic component of white chocolate. Those bottles rate four points higher. 1997- 2010. 94.

1982 Trimbach Clos Ste. Hune

While Clos Ste. Hune is one of the longest-lived white wines in the world, the 1982 has now reached the point in its evolution where plans should be made to drink it up. The wine is still delicious, but the fruit is just now threatening to recede on the finish, and I suspect that this drying out process will become accelerated over the next eighteen months. The color is now a deep gold, with flecks of green. The bouquet is marvelous, with scents of honeyed apples, peaches, guava, saddle leather, coffee bean, minerals, and a bottom note of petrol. Deep, full, and powerful on the palate, with nothing left in reserve, but still plenty of snappy acidity to give the wine lift and structure. It is only on the very tail of the finish that the wine's age betrays itself, with a touch of tannin now beginning to poke out from the fruit. Drink this lovely, powerful and resolved wine over the next year. 1997-1998. 91.