With New York Strip Steak tonight, I chose to open two wines to taste side by side. Both the 1996 Clinet and 2001 Bonneau CdP were amazing and not just delicious, but intellectually stimulating. They had the acidity, structure, fruit, and serious character that I was looking for they both managed to be true to their terroir, age-worthy, and wow-wines without significant extraction.
- 1996 Château Clinet - France, Bordeaux, Libournais, Pomerol
Had this tonight with a juicy NY Strip Steak from the Grill. And what a wine. This wine is so perfumed, it can be smelled across the room. Really amazing nose of earth, crushed rock, red currants, and cigar box. Still very powerful on the palate, but not very extracted. The texture is not velvety, but silky, so it reminds me a little of the texture of aged Barolo or Burgundy. The other similarity with Burgundy is that this has bright red and black fruits and very pronounced earth and morel mushroom flavors. In hindsight, this would have been best paired with veal in a morel mushroom cream sauce. Stunning wine with amazing purity, depth, and layers and layers of complexity. Worth seeking out. - 2001 Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape - France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
As if that '96 Clinet wasn't stunning enough, this Bonneau is a riveting wine and a worthy partner to the Clinet. It is the essence of kirsch liqueur and raspberries with plenty of provencal herbs mixed in. What's most remarkable is the palate that screams raspberry, cherry, and even some plum sauce with such an amazing depth. Not very extracted, this is nevertheless explosive on the palate and just plain delicious to drink with fascinating acidity and incredible verve. I love this style of CdP and find it to be among the very best CdPs I've tasted. Although this is drinking so well right now, I think it needs a little time to settle down and develop a bit more secondary and tertiary nuances. Worth seeking out.
Posted from CellarTracker
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