From a rainy, difficult vintage, the 1996 Chateauneuf du Pape was hard to read at this tasting, as the two bottles tasted possessed what seemed like very light levels of TCA. This trait didn’t get worse with air, however, and the wine offered solid aromas and flavors of dark fruits, beef blood, iodine and mint to go with a medium-bodied, nicely textured profile on the palate. Let’s hope we were just unlucky with these two bottles, but if you have some of these in the cellar, I’d recommend opening them.
One of the softest spoken, yet reflective and hardworking people in Chateauneuf du Pape, Laurent Charvin farms his eight hectares in the northern portion of the appellation, in the lieux-dits of Maucoil, Cabrieres, and l’Arnesque, to a “T”. A sixth generation farmer (his family has been at this site since 1851), Laurent was the first to move away from selling all of their grapes to the negociants, and bottled his first release in 1990. As this tasting shows, his wines are consistently outstanding and age gracefully. In addition, Laurent also excels in the difficult vintages, which is common for vignerons who spend the majority of their time in the vineyards. Remaining staunchly in favor of a single cuvee, Laurent’s Chateauneuf du Pape is always a rough blend of 85% Grenache, 5% Syrah, 5% Mourvedre and 5% Vaccarese. He never destems and the wine sees absolutely no oak, aging 21 months in large concrete tanks. In addition to his Chateauneuf, he produces a beautiful Cotes du Rhone (from the vines located around his house, next to the lieu-dit of Maucoil), and, just recently, a rose. We finished the tasting with a trio of Laurent’s Cotes du Rones, which come from vineyards located around his estate, in the northwestern part of the appellation. It’s always a rough blend of 85% Grenache and the balance Syrah and Carignan, that’s aged all in tank.
Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800
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