We finished the tasting with a trio of older Prestige bottles, all of which had aged beautifully. The youngest of the three, the 1992 Chateauneuf du Pape Prestige is evolved and completely mature, yet offers plenty of fruit and texture in a classy, seamless, integrated style. There's still solid mid-palate depth here, and I came away impressed.
A brilliantly run estate, Domaine Roger Sabon covers close to 44 acres that are spread throughout the appellation, and the wines have been made by Didier Negron since 2001. This retrospective focused on their top cuvee, the Secret du Sabon, which is a field blend of roughly (the exact blend is a "secret") 90% Grenache with the balance other permitted varieties (from 100-year-old vines), that-s aged all in 600-liter barrels. While the first released vintage was 1998, they also bottled a small amount in 1990, 1995 (the only one I've tasted? superb) and 1996.
Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC: tel. (704) 358-1565