Following our BBQ rib dinner the other night, we had leftover ribs with baked potato and sweet corn. Then, we enjoyed the BBQ with a favorite wine pairing, a bold Aussie Shiraz which we featured in this blogpost - Branson Coach House Greenock Block Shiraz with BBQ Ribs.
Tonight, I pulled from the cellar a vintage aged CDP - Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in accordance with appellation rules, a Rhone varietal red blend. This release is what is known as a ‘GSM’, a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, the three grapes required to comprise at least 70% to be designated a CDP. This is another one of our favorite food and wine pairings - that same Syrah/Shiraz as the Aussie varietal, but as part of a blend.
We visited the appellation in 1999 and again in 2018 - chronicled in these posts - A visit to Château La Nerthe, and Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe. Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
Domaine Grand Veneur "Les Origines" Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005
Domaine Grand Veneur "Les Origines" Châteauneuf-du-Pape is produced by Alain Jaume & Fils a highly acclaimed family owned and operated estate, founded in 1826 by Mathieu Jaume, and then succeeded by Marius, Fernand and Roger Jaume.
In 1979, the current generation ancestors Odile and Alain Jaume and his two sons continued the family tradition with the creation of "Domaine Grand Veneur".
At the outset, the vineyard covered 22 and a quarter acres, and was expanded over the years such that today, Domaine Grand Veneur is a 170-acre estate based in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in the Southern Rhone Valley. The estate is at the northern edge of the appellation on the southernmost outskirts of the city of Orange.
In addition to the family’s vineyards in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, they also have parcels in Cotes du Rhône and Lirac, the appellation on the other side of the Rhône River. Grand Veneur produces red and white wines, and the family also has a negociant business called Alain Jaume & Fils. Robert M. Parker Jr. has called Grand Veneur “one of the best run estates in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
The cellars were built just outside of the town of Orange at the top of the appellation, on the road to Châteauneuf du Pape to the south.
A Châteauneuf-du-Pape Appellation designated wine from the Southern Rhône Valley, CDP wines are a blend with up to thirteen specified grape varieties allowed, but typically ~50–55% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, and 15–20% Syrah, with 70% required from these three grapes.
The 2005 release is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre and 15% Syrah that saw 16 months in 55% concrete tank and 45% in smaller barrels.
While the Vieilles Vignes bottling wasn’t made until 2006, the 2005 Châteauneuf du Pape Les Origines goes all the way back to 1998. The Les Origins bottling is comprised of fruits from the oldest blocks in the estate vineyards, sourced from old vines over 65 years old, grown in the red clay and deep gravel soils typical of the Rhone Valley.
We hold a half dozen releases of this label dating back to the turn of the century, this being the current oldest of our collection, selected accordingly as part of cellar inventory management.
This release was rated 95 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate, 93 points by Wine Spectator, and 92 points by Vinous.
In their 95 point review in 2015, Wine Advocate wrote “It freshens up in the glass, and while drinking nicely now, will have no problems evolving gracefully for another decade.”
So here we are … at age 21 the label, foil and most importantly the fill level and cork were still in pristine condition.
For those folks that think Châteauneuf du Pape does not age, this is a top wine from a top vintage and at age 21, it is doing just fine and still has a few years left. Every once in a while you open a bottle and it’s at peak. This was one of those times - the benefits of having a cellar and aging wines.
Deep ruby in color, medium to full bodied, full round expressive complex but nicely integrated black berry and black cherry fruits, notes of tobacco, spices and leather, with hints of licorice and garrique, lacking the typical black pepper sprites, with subtle smooth dusty tannins on the long, sweet, pleasant lingering finish.
RM 92 points.
