From one of my favorite winemakers, in the Rhone region of Chateauneuf du Pape, and in a great year. Francie and I visited the winery pictured above and had an absolutely wonderful tasting, one that along with Beaucastel convinced me that Chateauneuf is one of the world's greatest wines. This one has an unusually intense aroma of sweet, almost candied, raspberry/cherry. Yet I'd say it's barely begun to evolve and the intensity is more of the deep sort that requires swirling and sniffing rather than jumping out of the glass. It is very dark in color and quite young--really shouldn't be drinking this for another 4-5 years. There are also aromas of licorice, tar, 5-spice powder, and a touch of a sweet herb like lavender. It offers complex tastes and big fruit, with plenty of acid, alcohol and tannin in good balance. But I'm not touching my other bottle till 2016 or so. It will, I predict, be a stupendous wine then and on for another decade. Chapin is a vineyard of 100% Grenache vines 60-80 yrs old. As far as Grenache goes, this is about as good as it gets. Enjoyed this with Laurie and Bob, celebrating Laurie's birthday. Also opened another bottle of the very fine 2007 Brewer-Clifton Chardonnay (Carmel Road), which is also wonderful and also needs some more time to expand and integrate fully.
I must say it's a huge pleasure to be able to have wine again after laying off for 4+ months. Life's too short to drink no wine.
Parker gives the Chaupin 98 points, Tanzer 94. Parker is more attuned to a young wine's potential so I can't dispute his score; Tanzer is usually 2-4 points below Parker. I'd split the difference at 96 but think it may well be even better with some time to develop bottle bouquet. Parker's take:
Made from 100% Grenache (60- to 80-year-old vines) aged largely in neutral oak foudres with a small amount in new barrels, the inky/ruby/purple-hued 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Chaupin is the greatest example of this offering since the 1998, but it is even more concentrated than that wine. A cold terroir and sandy/clay soils have given the wine an extraordinary amount of acidity and freshness that serve it well in buttressing the fabulously concentrated, massively extracted, old vine Grenache. This blockbuster wine possesses enormous richness and density as well as an incredibly unevolved, young personality. Everything is there, including awesome aromatics, unbelievable layers of kirsch, raspberries, licorice, incense, and blacker fruits, and a finish that goes on for close to a minute. However, I would age this wine for 2-4 years and drink it over the following two decades or more. It is a tour de force in old vine Grenache as well as one of the vintage’s most compelling wines.
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