2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cotes Capelan
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Tasting notes
The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Cotes Capelan is the top wine from winemaker Stephane Vedeau and is mostly Grenache from a parcel named “Côtes Capelan”. This sexy, opulent and incredibly perfumed beauty gives up loads of kirsch, incense, licorice and lavender aromas and flavors. It’s unquestionably a big wine, yet it’s remarkable fresh and lively, with good acids, and seamless texture, loads of fruit and a clean finish. It needs an hour in the decant to shows at its best, and easily has another decade of prime drinking.
Critic scores
Average Score
Robert Parker
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Total acidity 3.65, pH 3.5 apparently. Rich yet transparent and expressive. Not as explosive as when tasted in 2008, but there is no obvious heat on the finish and it is much much more concentrated and impressive than the sample tasted in March 2010 that is thought to have come from one problematic end of the bottling session. See this thread in members' forum for a more complete explanation.⁞ (JR)
This bottle, supplied by Flint Wines, was almost unrecognisable from the stunning pre-bottling sample I tasted in the autumn of 2008. Light to mid ruby. Marked acidity and rather meagre fruit. Dry on the finish and none of the richness that made the wine so attention-grabbing en primeur. When I read that the Decanter tasting team had panned it, I thought perhaps it was because they felt it was too much, but tasting it now, I feel it is too little, too timid – as though it had been heavily filtered. Although the label promises that it is a Vin Non Filtré. Very odd indeed. See this thread in members' forum. This may, just may, blossom, but the contrast is so marked that I worry. It was certainly better after 24 hours in a wide-lipped glass. And see later this tasting note . (JR)
The dense ruby/purple-colored, full-bodied 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cotes Capelan is an outrageously rich, complex wine exhibiting beautiful creme de cassis, kirsch, licorice, forest floor, and spring flower-like aromas. It is fresh, voluptuous, and opulent in the mouth, but the fresh acids and vibrancy give it exceptional precision as well as a refreshing style despite its weight, richness, and length. This is a superb, young Chateauneuf du Pape from an up-and-coming star of the appellation. Give it 1-3 years of bottle age and drink it over the following two decades. Les Deux Rhones’ 2007 and 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape are both incredible sleepers of the vintage. This small estate’s dedicated, conscientious, young proprietor, Stephane Vedeau, appears intent on making a top-flight reputation for himself. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800
About the producer
Product details
Grenache/ Garnacha , Syrah / Shiraz, Mourvedre/Monastrell/Mataro, Cinsault
Red
Dry