2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Pierres Dorees

The 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Pierres Dorees is superb. It is a more exuberant, elegant style of Chateauneuf du Pape that does not have the force or volume of the Les Galets Blonds, but tastes like someone was making Chateauneuf du Pape with a Burgundy sensitivity. With beautiful fruit and floral notes intermixed with sweet cherries and raspberries, this medium-bodied wine is elegant, pure, and impeccably well-balanced. It is aged completely in old wood barrels, and represents a blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Mourvedre. It should drink well for up to 10-12 years. Patrick Lesec, the Frenchman who spent an important segment of his life in Santa Barbara, does a stunning job of accessing wines from old vineyards and putting together sensational blends in the southern Rhone. Everything is treated with respect for the regional typicity and character of the grapes. His strengths are the Chateauneuf du Papes, his Cotes du Rhones, as well as Vacqueyras and Gigondas. I haven’t reviewed everything that I’ve tasted, but just about anything with the Patrick Lesec label on it deserves a try as the prices are uncommonly fair for wines of such high quality. What I do find about them, since I purchase them myself, is that since they are made with minimal exposure to oxygen in a very reductive way, they often seem dormant, even dumb, when first released in the bottle. But, since they are bottled unfined and unfiltered, the full character does come forward, although it usually requires 2-4 years of bottle age, especially for the bigger wines from Chateauneuf du Pape. In any event, I consider this an unheralded source for top quality wines from a high-class negociant dedicated to artisinal winemaking. A Patrick Lesec Selection, various American importers, including Chemin des Vins, Sherborn, MA 508 545 1532; Vermont Wine Merchants, Burlington, VT 802 658 6771; Noble House, New York, NY 212 736 0040; William Harrison Imports, Manassas,VA 703 815 9463; The Stacole Company, Boca Raton, FL 561 998 0029; Fine Vines, Melrose Park, IL 708 343 6702; Silver State, Reno, NV 775 331 3400 and Wine Warehouse, Commerce, CA 323 724 1700