The 2003 Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie was a disaster, went straight down the sink. Like rotten bell peppers and stewed tomatoes. No redeeming quality whatsoever. I assumed a bottle that have been exposed to heat, but the bottle itself, and the cork and label, were quite pristine. No sign of heat damage or seepage whatsoever. I had the identical experience with three, back-to-back bottles of 2003 Couly Chinon Clos de l’Echo, over the last 18 months. Same thing, seemingly perfect bottles, totally stewed. I cannot comment on whether 2003 Chinon was a roaster like some other regions of France, having only had good (excellent, actually) bottles of Rougeard and Baudry’s Franc de Pied, the latter twice from Racines in NYC.
(NR)
A lone bottle of 2004 Chateau Pontet Canet caught my eye, mostly as I do not buy this wine, and have no recollection how it made its way into my wine fridge. So given my recent Rolland experience at Ovid, this picqued my curiosity. Plus, at this point, I needed any swill I could find to exorcise that rank Joguet out of my system. And ironically, this wine also had pronounced wafts of ripe bell pepper. Assuming this was some sick vestige of the Joguet, I set it down, finished up making dinner - yes, I have been relegated to making my own food tonight, as wifey just made the finals of a major USTA tournament (not meant as a sexist comment, could just as easily have been interpreted to be that we normally go out for dinner on Sundays, true) - and circled back after starting to eat. And still bell pepper. Not bad, just surprising. Blind and I might call old Togni in an average year. After an hour open, the nose is rather appealing but quite singular. The palate is similar, and while technically correct, it’s actually rather boring. Not in a big ripe fruity international style thing that one might expect given Rolland, but instead, just a simple wine with clean Cabernet fruit more on the tart red spectrum than dark. I can run through the range of a few other notes, but all together, it’s just uneventful. Slightly drying on the finish. (86 pts.)
I hear the siren of an 18-year single malt calling me . . . .
Thanks for the note. I think Rolland’s influence on Pontet Canet is fairly limited given all the other things they do (biodynamics, amphorae, etc). Plus, I quite like this wine, so it’s good to see a different perspective. I can understand why you might find it a bit boring. Though 86 seems a bit harsh.
I have heard that as well, Greg, and from my note, I tried to convey this does not taste like a Rolland wine. I think that I call balls and strikes, but sure, anyone reading this can take it with a grain of salt given my general thoughts on these consultants (and for the record, my disdain of baseball, too). This is a B to a B+ wine in my book.
I’ve a couple mags of the 04 PC on the cellar so I am hoping time brings good things! I think 04s, early drinking though they are comparatively, are still young. Thoughts?
I’m just starting to try some 04s. I was thinking same thing, 15 years. I’m calling this wine as I see it today, this bottle, not prognosticating on the future. The slight drying in the finish is not a positive indicator to me, but then again, you have magnums and hopefully they show better.
You might want to give 2003 Joguet another shot, even though your pal Rolland didn’t consult there.
2003 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos du Chêne Vert- France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon (2/9/2018)
Red bricking, nose of game, barnyard and raspberries. Beautifully textured palate. There is more barnyard with smoke and tobacco leaf all wrapped up in sweet raspberries. Label says 14% abv but without heat and well-balanced. Awesome with a pan-fried ribeye and stir fried Brussels sprouts! Bottle 5 of 6 and easily the best yet. Outstanding. (94 pts.)
I wasn’t implying you have an agenda at all, but also, I don’t really know what your grading scale is though - figured 93 was average for everyone these days.
I think the 04 Pontet Canet is a really solid Bordeaux. It’ll never be great, but I’ve had quite a few bottles of it and to me it’s what I consider a 90.
Sorry Greg, I really didn’t mean to suggest that, but reading my post again, I see where you can infer that. My apologies. I see that Buecker is at 89-90. His palate is excellent, and he’s calling this a B+ or barely an A. Not a great divide between us. And I cannot discount some bottle variation, especially since I did not buy this wine on release.
I sold any 2003 joguet I had years ago (2009 as well); also sold every bottle of 2002 and 2004 Bordeaux I owned (not many, but just too austere for my tastes).
Sounds like the Joguet may have been faulty, if it tasted like the Clos de l’Echo. I’ve had the latter twice recently and enjoyed it a lot, although it’s not quite ready yet. 2003 was a roaster all over France but the Loire probably fared better than other regions. the Baudry Croix Boissée I tried wasn’t roasted, just a little one dimensional. I’ve only got one Joguet from 03, the Varennes, which I shall try soon and report back on. As for Pontet-Canet, it’s one of the few 04s I have which I have yet to try. The only 04 to really impress me has been Léoville-Barton.
I was curious and looked at Jeff’s website. It looked like many of the techniques such as use of amphora, destemming by hand and horse plows came much later. I’d love to hear from Jeff exactly what Rolland does there these days. A winery that I recently met with, said that Rolland flies in about twice per year to help with blending, that is all. I often wonder why a winemaker and winery owner would do that. On my primary matters, I still write the vast majority of my key work product. My name is on it.
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