Garden flowers, blackberry/blueberry, a bit of spicy musk and what Parker likes to call "toasty oak" highlight the aroma and palate of this excellent, mature wine. Tannins are all smoothed out, and there is no alcohol heat, just about everything in perfect balance from first sniff through good but not extra long finish. The color is an interesting red-purple. 93+. probably drinks nicely for another 5 years. I'm going to guess that it's More syrah than Grenache and only a bit of the other varietals. As Parker writes below however the wine is mostly grenache and the pepper and kirsch he mentions don't seem quite right to me, but the plain fact is that the wine evolves through varied tastes as it sits in glass and no doubt over years in bottle too. So maybe earlier it was more peppery. Tanzer says chocolate, which might be right.
Parker in 2003 wrote, giving the wine 96 points: The limited production Cuvee Vieilles Vignes (70% Grenache and 30% Syrah and Mourvedre) was rocking when I tasted it. The 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes represents the essence of kirsch liqueur intermixed with pepper. Sexy, full-bodied, layered, and multidimensional, it exhibits great intensity, even more length than the Chaupin, sweet fruit, adequate acidity, and ripe tannin. This is a flawless as well as seamless blockbuster to drink now and over the next 15-20 years.
Tanzer:
($60) Dark red-ruby. Distinct surmaturite on the nose: roasted red fruits, roasted herbs, chocolate, earth and minerals. Lush, sweet and layered, with classic superripe grenache flavors of chocolate and spice cake. Very smooth wine, finishing with toothcoating tannins and the quintessential warmth of a wine from the South. "In an outstanding vintage like 2000, I tried to preserve freshness of fruit and finesse, and thus did not try to do a big extraction," noted Sabon. 93 points.
Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565
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