2005 Patrick Lesec Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Galets Blonds

Showing brilliantly, in fact much better than it did last year, the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Galets Blonds (95% Grenache and 5% Syrah) is spectacular. Gorgeous aromatics of tapenade of black olives intermixed with blackberry, kirsch, licorice, and meat juices is followed by a voluptuous, full-bodied, heady wine with terrific concentration, sweet tannin, and a long finish. This wine includes 100% stems during the vinification and is a cuvee of 6,600 bottles. It should drink beautifully for 15 or more years. These are all noteworthy wines and generally sell for very realistic prices, so kudos to Patrick Lesec! I can’t speak highly enough of the job that Patrick Lesec does as a negociant, putting together interesting and high quality blends of Cotes du Rhones and Chateauneuf du Papes. He seems to have a talent for finding top quality sources for old vine Grenache, and his philosophy of bringing wines up is one of minimal intervention in a reductive environment with little exposure to oxygen. That’s important, because his wines often take a few years after bottling to strut their stuff. I have been very impressed with how the wines do perform in bottle, having purchased 1998s, 2000s, and 2001s, all of which seem to come into their own at about age four or five. I also noticed that his 2005s generally showed better out of bottle than they did last year prior to bottling. A Patrick Lesec Selection; Agent for the U.S. market: Chemin des Vins, Sherborn, MA; tel. (508) 545-1532