The 2005 vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape produced rich wines with powerful flavors and extreme structure. The ’05 Domaine Paul Autard Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée La Cote Ronde is from a parcel of 90 year old vines and is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault, Mourvedre and Muscardin.
The wine is dark ruby in color. Wonderful bouquet of kirsch, raspberry, dried cherries, anise, leather, Asian spices and stones. The wine finishes with a wall of tannins. Admittedly I only decanted this for an hour, but I would hesitate to open another bottle of this wine (or any other top ’05) for another year or two.
My rating: 92 points
Great producer. I remember tasting this at a retailer holiday tasting when it was released. There were some great wines there but this one was my wine of the night. I wonder if these 05s are in the infamous shut down phase of CdP evolution. Good on release, they sleep for a while, then they emerge again after 10 years or so. Perhaps the subject for a future blog post?
I definitely think the top wines of the vintage will show better at the 10 year mark.
Regarding shutdown phases — sorry to change the subject a little — what are your thoughts about 09 Bordeaux? I’ve been blown away by how fresh and accessible so many of these are now. I was able to attend a great tasting where I could taste 20+ classified growth wines from the vintage. Think they are also headed for a shut down phase?
I think there is little doubt the 09 Bordeaux will shut down in the not too distant future. With the exception of 03…every great vintage seems to shut down in that 4-7 years of age range.
Mike and Tom:
I agree with you, Tom, that great vintages of Bordeaux shut down in the 4 year to 7 year range, on average. Of course, there are exceptions to vintages. For example, Bordeaux from the 2003 vintage didn’t seem to ever shut down for most wines. And, there are exceptions to specific wines within each vintage. First Growth Bordeaux, for example, always seems to exhibit some degree of “closing down” early in their lives regardless of the vintage.
On the other hand, many bottles of 1995 Bordeaux were still closed 13 years from the vintage. And, many bottles of 1996 Bordeaux were already closed in 1999. Bordeaux from 2009 will close down soon for most Classified Growths.
The key to enjoying Bordeaux is patience. And, I’ll admit, it’s hard to delay gratification for several years after forking over a lot of money up front.