2004 Clos des Pape Chateauneuf du pape

In the same line up of wines I had on SAT, the last wine before Chateau d’Yquem 2000 was this excellent example of Chateauneuf du pape. The wine was popped and poured, and was not probably left to breath enough time. There were probably not more than 60 minutes left in the decanter and it certainly needs more. Luckily there were some leftovers on the second day and I could get a better idea about it.

2004 Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du pape

Dark red – saturated ruby color. From the first pour in the glass the nose betrays an extremely young wine. The nose is almost undeveloped and if you would not know the vintage you could swear you are tasting a 2009 or 2010.

Not even prolonged aeration or having it on the second day doesn’t move this wine into a more developed stage. There are aromas of sweet red and black cherry, Indian spices and a mix of herbs: sage, thyme and lavender, but the wine needs to spend longer time in bottle. It is full bodied on the palate – for a Chateauneuf du pape it might qualify as medium to full body, a smooth texture of fine grained tannins that makes the wine already pleasant to drink, flavors of raspberry, strawberry and red cherry jams, white pepper and showing a powerful character on the long spicy and Grenache like red fruit finish. I would not open the next bottle for at least another 4-5 years. Regarding aging potential, this has at least another 20-30 years of life ahead. 14.5 % (93/100)