2001 Chateauneuf du Pape

The 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Marie Beurrier tasted peppery, herbal, and spicy, and is clearly a wine made from a cooler year. It is always difficult to figure out just what is going on here. For over 15 years, my annual tasting through the hodgepodge of cellars and ancient barrels, foudres, and tanks in this underground maze known as the caves of Henri Bonneau is one of the gustatory highlights of the year. Yet the only thing that seems certain is that whatever comes out in bottle is usually much better than what you taste out of barrel. Henri Bonneau, who is now working in close conjunction with a new collaborator, Michel Roman, to help in doing some of the work in the cellar as he edges into his late sixties, called 2004 a “correct year.” Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173