Two Brilliant Chateauneufs

We assembled at one of the East Bay’s better kept secrets (well, maybe not for long), Wood Tavern of Oakland, for dinner on Friday. It was a grueling week of trying to write by committee a big proposal on storing CO2 deep in the Earth. So perhaps my notes are a bit skewed, but they seemed to check out against the impressions of Board member Lou Rittenhouse.

First up was a 2005 Maison Deux Montille Soeur et Frère Montagny Coères 1er a lively, steely white Burg that pretty much everyone would label as “sans flab”. Steely, I said, but still with plenty of brisk notes of citrus and apple to provide a sweet core. This is the kind of wine to reawaken the senses after a long week.

Next up were two Chateauneuf du Papes that could only be described as brilliant. I had had one previous great bottle of 1989 Beaucastel Chateauneuf du Pape, which seriously upstaged a slightly off bottle of 1998 Pegau Cuvée Laurence. This bottle of Beaucastel was even better, with a touch of that signature Brett that was firmly under control, merging beautifully with aromas of ripe cherries, underbrush, and leather. The beautifully balanced aromatics didn’t quite prepare me for what followed on the palate though—a profusion of lively sweet and spicy cherry flavors rolling from front to back as a viscous wave. This seemed to be a case where “explosion” was just about the right phrase, with the original detonation on the palate followed by a long scintillating finish. What a great wine!!

Well, the 1998 Pegau Cuvée Laurence may have been shown up last time, but this time the 1998 Pegau Cuvée Reservée held its own, especially if you take into account its younger age. This was the best 1998 Pegau I have had, and the wine really seems to be hitting its stride now—I can only shake my head with regret over the previous bottles I drank too early. One whiff of the wine and I cracked a smile as a profusion of red currant berry, garrigue, and licorice cascaded out of the glass. On the complex palate it presents an interesting contrast with the Beaucastel, with the higher proportion of Grenache providing licorice notes in place of cherry. The flavors were classic Chateauneuf, but the wine is beginning to take on an almost Burgundian character in the way that multiple themes seem to set up and play out on the palate. Wow, two great wines in one night…