| Tasting note |
Now that it has been in bottle a while, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee is looking even better than I projected based on last year's prebottling sample. It's all violets, cherries, subtle allspice and clove and traditional garrigue notes of lavender and thyme. Full-bodied and rich, it's crazy complex, adding hints of tar and black olives on the long, silky finish. By Wine Advocate, Aug 2018.
Savory notes of bramble, smoke and leather juxtapose forward plum, cherry and strawberry in this full-bodied wine. It's a penetrating, mouthfilling sip that lingers on the palate, finishing on soft, furry tannins. *Editors' Choice*. By Wine Enthusiast, Nov 2018.
The 2015 Châteauneuf-Du-Pape Cuvée Réservée is a beautiful, classic wine from the Feraud family that offers powerful notes of blackcurrants, peppered meat, garrigue, and that classic Pégau spice that's hard to find outside of this iconic estate. Possessing a deep ruby/plum color, beautiful complexity, full-bodied richness, and firm tannin, it has closed up slightly since I tasted it from barrel and is going to need 6-12 months of bottle age to bounce back, but this is a concentrated, powerful vintage for this estate that reminds me a slightly improved 2005. By Jeb Dunnuck, Aug 2018.
Solid, with a muscular core of dark fig, blackberry, raspberry paste flavors mixed liberally with anise, savory, tobacco and singed mesquite notes. Shows a sanguine thread on the finish, where everything knits together. This has ample depth and character. By Wine Spectator, Jun 2018.
Vivid ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes ripe raspberry, cherry and garrigue, while a suave floral element expands with air. Fleshy, seamless and broad on the palate, offering intense black raspberry and fruitcake flavors that are braced and lifted by a spine of juicy acidity. The floral note builds as the wine opens up and carries through the sweet, strikingly long finish, which leaves behind red fruit liqueur and licorice notes. By Vinous, Mar 2017. |
