2001 Chateauneuf du Pape

More open and exuberant than the 2000, with a sweeter core of fruit, the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape tastes like the essence of this region, with its garrigue, leather, ground herbs and sweet, licorice-laced blackberry fruit. It too is medium to full-bodied, balanced and beautifully textured on the palate, with a mature, yet still youthful profile that’s perfect for prime- time drinking over the coming 2-4 years. 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

A great showing by this bottle and the 2001 Domaine Charvin Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a textbook, old-school Châteauneuf that delivers gorgeous garrigue, sweet cherry, mineral, and licorice aromatics, a full-bodied, textured mouth feel, impeccable balance, and an overall classical feel. While superb now and showing solid complexity and youthful fruit, this should continue to shine for another 10-12 years.

Deep, subtle and meaty on the nose. And yet there is real energy on the palate – as though some very special engineering has got it airborne, despite its great charge of interesting flavours. This is a lovely, if quite developed wine. No need to hang on to it forever. In fact you could enjoy it a great deal now. Chewy finish augurs well for the future but is not so painful as to detract from the current pleasure. (JR)