Pick My Next Bottle – 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

The August Installment of Pick My Next Bottle focuses on 2008 Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The purpose of this series is to provide insight into specific wines or producers you may currently have in your cellar. The winning bottle will be opened on Saturday and a Bottle Note will be published this coming week.

2008 was at best an average vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The harvest was marked by cooler than the normal temperatures leading to wines brimming with acidity. The cool, wet spring and humid growing season were saved by mistral at the end. It was a small crop, with many producers eliminating cuvées. The wines highlighted below all age well but at 15 years of age they should be drinking really beautifully.

The Contenders:

• 2008 Clos Saint-Jean Combe des Fous – The 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape Combe des Fous shows what this estate can do in a more difficult vintage. Full-bodied, seamless and beautifully textured, it has ample kirsch, forest floor, truffle, black pepper, and an exotic, liquid flower-like quality to go with superb concentration and silky, polished tannin. Showing the vintage’s cooler nature, it nevertheless has serious richness and depth. Drink it over the coming decade. 94 points from the Wine Advocate.
• 2008 Domaine Charvin– The 2008 Chateauneuf du Pape is a sexy, medium to full-bodied effort with far more depth, richness and seductive powers than most Chateauneuf du Papes in this vintage. A classic blend of 85% Grenache and the rest equal parts Mourvedre, Syrah and Vaccarese has resulted in a deep plum/ruby-hued 2008 displaying loads of kirsch, pepper and licorice notes. The fruit is sweet, the tannins silky and the wine very seductive and evolved. Drink it over the next 7-8 years. 90 points from the Wine Advocate.
• 2008 Clos des Papes – Undoubtedly one of the best Châteauneufs of the vintage, Clos des Papes’s 2008 Châteauneuf du Pape was in surprisingly fine form. Full-bodied but wonderfully silky with age, it shows developing aromas and flavors of tree bark, cola, dried spices, red cherries and white button mushrooms. While I wouldn’t expect it to last forever, it should provide delicious drinking over the next 5 years or so. It was made from tiny yields of 16 hectoliters per hectare and reached 14.7% alcohol in what was a challenging vintage in the Southern Rhône. 93 points from the Wine Advocate.

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Thanks for voting! I’d love to see a comment below on why you picked one bottle over another. Also, let me know if you have any suggestions for the September installment of Pick My Next Bottle.