2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Papet

Made from 75% Grenache and 15% Syrah, the 2005 Châteauneuf du Pape la Cuvee du Papet is deeper and richer than the classic cuvee. It exhibits gorgeous notes of sweet cherry and currant-like fruit, iron, garrigue and olive tapenade. This is followed by a full-bodied, structured, layered and concentrated Châteauneuf du Pape that has the balance and class to continue to evolve for another 10-15 years.

Blend mainly Grenache (75%) and Syrah (15%). Lieux-dits: Montalivet, La Crau, Palestor. 30% destemmed, 85% in foudres. 12,000 bottles produced. pH 3.6 , RS 0.7g/l. Harvested 21-24 September. Mid ruby. A bit of animal fur on the nose – too ripe? Extremely sweet and exaggerated. Porty. And some quite oily tannins, and fast fade. Not for me, though I'm sure it will appeal to some palates. Hot finish. (JR)

Lots of potential here and this 2005 Clos du Mont Olivet Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Cuvée du Papet could end up being as good as their blockbuster 1998. The nose shows rich dark cherry and cassis fruit, charred earth, meat and licorice notes and there's nice complexity, typicity and depth. The palate is really concentrated, structured and rich with medium to full body, lots of structure and plenty of length with ripe, fine grained tannins. While this has enough fruit to buffer to structure and make this enjoyable now, give it 5 years and I'm banking on this being a rock star bottle.