Château Mont Redon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2014 at Historic Gaslight Club at Chicago O'hare
A midweek business dinner meeting with a colleague laying over at O'Hare Airport, we dined at the Gaslight Club at the Airport Hilton Hotel. The Gaslight Club is a Chicago institution dating back to the 1950's when a group recreated the historic Chicago speakeasy's from roaring twenties and prohibition eras on Chicago's Gold Coast. Over the next decade Clubs opened in New York, Washington, Paris and this O'hare club in 1973. In 1956 the New
York Club opened it's doors in a plush old mansion where Elizabeth Taylor was
New York's favorite Gaslight Girl and filmed scenes there for
the movie 'Butterfield 8', for which she won an Academy Award. Today, O'hare is the only remaining club, but it retains that old ambiance with its rustic decor and a live entertainment, tonight a piano singer.
For a upscale premium steak house, the Gaslight Club winelist is minimalist with but a few selections from which to choose - twelve Cabernets, five French, three Italian and Pinot Noir, and four Merlot and Red Burgundies, a single Zinfandel and Petit Syrah. Hoping to order a Bordeaux with our steak dinners, I selected a St Emilion but rejected the bottle when it in fact was a lesser satellite St Emilion appellation upon presentation.
Hence I opted for this Châteauneuf-du-Pape, not my first choice for grilled prime steak but it served the bill.
Château Mont Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2014
I visited Château Mont Redon in Châteauneuf-du-Pape during my Rhone Wine Experience in 1998.
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| Château Mont-Redon Vineyard |
Château Mont-Redon owns 186 hectares in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation, of which 100 are planted with vines. The vineyards are ideally sited with classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape terroir, “diluvium alpin” soil
and the noted Châteauneuf-du-Pape “galet’s” or round, heat absorbing pebbles that have been
shaped and polished over thousands of years by the Rhône River and
spread over time along the appellations high plains.
In some portions
of the vineyard this layer can exceed 2 meters in depth forcing the
vines roots deep in search of the layer of red clay that lies beneath.
Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre grown in these conditions produce wines
that are generous, powerful, tannic and concentrated. Mont Redon is sited on the highest plateaus of the
appellation where it captures the Mistral dry southern winds that blow up the river valley from the Mediterranean. The Mistal winds serve to dry the vines and the soil reducing the chance of fungus or rot. To minimize disturbance to the vines from the wind, they are trimmed low to the ground as shown in the picture.
The Rhône River valley soils are ideal for increasing the aromatic
character of Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvèdre - the primary grape varietals in the CDP blend. We visited Châteauneuf-du-Pape again just this summer.
Mont Redon vinifies each varietal separately, then ages 50% of the
wine in small oak barrels in the cellars for 12 months with the
remainder remaining in cask. The wines are then blended and aged an
additional 4 months prior to bottling.
The Mont Redon Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a blend of all 13 varietals authorized within the appellation including primary Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre.
Winemaker's Notes: Inky hue violet deep violet rim. Intense nose with red fruit aromas
combined to complex smokiness. Palate with tight and focused tannins.
Enjoyable now but require few years of bottle maturation to fully
integrate aging notes. Very elegant and refined finish.
Dark garnet colored, medium bodied, black berry and black cherry fruits accented by notes of black pepper, smoke, hints of tobacco leaf and leather.
RM 89 points.
https://www.cellartracker.com/wine.asp?iWine=2319846
https://www.chateaumontredon.com/en
https://www.gaslightclubs.com/
