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Posts Tagged ‘mourvedre’

2004 Chateau d’Estoublon Les Baux de Provence

Monday, April 13th, 2009

92/A-

Tasted by Mike Supple - 18 Jan 2009

Deep ruby core with a paler rim and slight garnet highlights. Clean fruit and spice aromas of plums, cinnamon and black cherry with a rustic earth, stone and leather quality, all accented by roasted coffee. Fairly full bodied in the mouth with intense flavors of smoky plums and roasted black cherries backed by spicy black pepper, coffee, nutmeg and baker’s chocolate with a hint of wild game.

This is an intense, complex wine. 2004 is sandwiched between two more critically acclaimed vintages. As a result, many great Provence wines from 2004 were overlooked, and this is a real hidden gem. While not a cheap wine, it is powerful and well balanced, and will impress any aficionado. Showing well now, but likely to continue getting better for another couple of years. A blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 30% Mourvedre and 10% Cabernet Sauvignon.

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2005 Core Mr Moreved

Sunday, February 1st, 2009

91 / B+

Tasted by Mike Supple - 10 Dec 2008

Dark garnet core with a thin rim. Blueberry and wild raspberry aromas are surrounded by charcoal and dust with light floral notes and a hint of green pepper. Smooth entry in the mouth with tons of minerals and nice acid. Big chewy tannins on the back, yet very balanced and refined. Tons of spicy cinnamon on the finish. Mostly Mourvedre with a splash of Grenache.

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2004 Chateau Lamargue

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

84 / B-

Tasted by Mike Supple - 18 Mar 2008

Medium ruby core with a touch of garnet in the rim. Very perfumy with flowers and fresh herbs over darker charcoal and black cherry. Soft and round in the mouth with a nice lingering dark fruit finish. A blend of Syrah, Grenache and Mourvedre.

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2005 Clos de l’Oratoire Chateauneuf du Pape

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

89 / A-

Tasted by Mike Supple - 14 Feb 2008

Dark purple core with a tinge of pink on the rim. A bit reductive on the nose, but gives way to blueberry, raspberry, black cherry and lighter strawberry aromas after a few minutes. Cedar spice, leather and slate support the dark fruits. On the palette the wine is medium to full bodied leading to fairly bold tannic structure on the finish. Perfumed notes of baby powder and rose petals lead to plum and black cherry on the mid-palate with a darker finish of cedar, leather, wet earth and slate.

This wine takes a very long time to show its true value right now. It needs to be open for several hours before being agreeable, but once open for a couple of days the aromas and flavors really started to come out. Good quality wines from Chateauneuf often cost a lot of money. This is priced very reasonably and will be a very good wine with another 3 or so years in the bottle. However, if you don’t have that patience, pour it into a decanter (or any large pitcher with space for oxygen) and give it several hours.

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