2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Secret de Sabon
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Tasting notes
Tasted at the estate, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape le Secret de Sabon is going through a bit of a middle-aged awkwardness at the moment. It's still dark in color, with barely visible bricking, and exhibits a fair bit of lively black cherry fruit, but it has begun to develop notes of dried fig, roasted meat and dark chocolate. Full-bodied and rich, it's savory and long on the finish. Drink or hold, but not for too much longer.
Critic scores
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Jeb Dunnuck
Robert Parker
More reviews and scores
Aged all in demi-muid, the tiny production 2009 Roger Sabon Châteauneuf-du-Pape Le Secret des Sabon is up there with the top 4-5 wines of the vintage. Showing awesome aromatics of framboise, licorice, garrigue, spice, flowers, graphite, and huge minerality and crushed stone, this is a thrilling on the palate with a deep, full-bodied feel, superb focus, and boatloads of underlying structure and tannin. As is normal with this estate, despite the overall size, this still maintains an underlying sense of balance, and dare I say, finesse. This needs time; bottles should be given 5-6 years in the cellar, and it should have 2 decades of evolution. Gorgeous stuff!
Glass-staining ruby. A highly perfumed, seductive bouquet displays dark berry preserves, gingerbread, licorice and apricot, heightened by an assertive floral quality. Broad, palate-staining black raspberry and cassis flavors are lifted by a tangy mineral note and complicated by floral and Asian spice qualities. Benefits from aeration and offers an intriguing interplay of richness and vivacity. The long, sweet finish echoes the floral and spice notes and shows no rough edges. This is 100% grenache, from vines planted in the late 1800s and from a yield that was reportedly under 10 hl/ha.