Domaine du Galet des Papes, Chateauneuf du Pape, 2005
So here we are on inauguration night. We made a really nice dinner. We had some friend over. So what to drink? As a kick-in-the-butt-on-the-way out to Bush we drank French! And after some champagne, this was our first bottle of red.
Our friends just love Chateauneuf du Pape, and are usually adept at finding lovely bottles. Though, I have to say that I can't remember many bad bottles of the stuff. And this one was particularly good.
The nose was just full of spice. Cinnamon at first, then nutmeg, then clove. Super spicy! Under that was some red cherry. Elizabeth immediately tasted green apple and carob. I got red cherry and raisin. And later, the taste slowly got spicier: pepper and then cayenne. There was also some citrus of some kind (though we drank it right away). And just for an instance, here and there, there was vanilla. But unlike American or Spanish oaking, this was sort of illusive, and really nice. Just enough to tease (and please). But the taste and finish kept changing and evolving over the time we drank it. There was also something vegetable in there too. Rhubarb? Carrot? Fennel? We couldn't tell exactly, but we all agreed it was there. The finish went back to the cherry and spice, but also had manure and peat.
This was really tasty!
Cost:
Rating:
8.5