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Eric LeVine
Grape Sorter
Posts:384
 | | 06/29/2004 12:46 AM |
| First off, if I got anything totally wrong here, please accept my apologies. Here is one more glowing post about Domaine du Pégau, so if that bugs you stop reading right now.
On my recent trip to Provence I had the very good fortune to reflect twice on the wonderful wines of Domaine du Pégau. First, I was able to participate in a very small tasting on 14-Jun-2004 with Mark Fincham. (Mark is a former Londoner who ended up meeting and marrying Laurence Feraud, and he has been involved with the winery since 1994.) We ended up chatting for about two hours, and I learned a ton from him. Two days later I was able to visit the winery and talk to Laurence for about 90 minutes while tasting a variety of wines from barrel and bottle. I was amazed at their hospitality and their willingness to spend time with me. Looking back, a few things really stuck out for me:
- Pégau is a remarkably small, family-run operation. I haven't visited a lot of wineries, but of the ones I have visited this one was one of the more humble locations. There is no glitz here, just focus on a great product.
- I am amazed at how traditional and non-interventionist the winemaking philosophy is. Yeast is rarely ever added. With the exception of Syrah, the other 12 Rhône varietals grow together in the same fields (albeit dominated by Grenache). Whole clusters of all these varietals are picked and fermented together relying on natural strains of yeast. When these are moved to barrel, there is no new wood to be seen anywhere. We are talking about some seriously old and crusty looking foudres and demi-muids.
- What typified this for me was their story about how the 1998 Cuvée da Capo came to be. The 'last' barrel contained juice from the oldest vines that had hung by far the longest. The alcohol was remarkably ripe at 16.6% with ample residual sugar. They kept tasting it and didn't know what to do with it, as this one barrel defied belief. Finally, they decided to bottle it separately. My presumption going into the conversation was that they had simply yielded to capitalism and were doing what everyone else was with a higher end cuvee. Heck, why not? However, the way they describe it, it was more an accident of nature that they happened to notice and capture separately. To support this point, in 2001 they *could* have released a Cuvée da Capo, and in fact they clearly debated that. Ultimately, they were so proud of the Cuvée Réservée they thought they should put their best foot forward for the entire production. Well done!
Anyway, I captured a few terse notes from each of the two tastings. Two things about the wine really stuck out for me. First of all, the 2001 Cuvée Réservée is a stunning wine that is still wide open and screaming with pleasure. My last taste in April (93pts) had convinced me that the wine was going to sleep, as it didn’t compare to my first two tastes from last Fall (each at 97pts). Well, I was wrong. This baby is wide open for business. Mark and Laurence each mentioned that they had several bottles over the winter with spicy curries and loved them. Second, the 2003 is going to be a crazy freak-show of a wine with over the top alcohol and power. Frankly, I am not qualified to taste from barrel, but oh my goodness this is crazy stuff. I for one can’t wait to see how it turns out. Anyway, onto the notes, first the ones from my June 14th tasting with Mark.
- 2002 Plan Pégau [Southern Rhône, Rhône, France] 84 pts.
This wine consists of declassified 2002 Domaine du Pégau as well as some "nice Syrah from the Costieres-de-Nimes." Light color. The nose shows some nice garrigue with some slightly off-putting stemminess or weediness. On the palate this is medium in weight and quite spicy. The finish is medium-short. All in all, the wine is fresh and interesting far beyond the rating. A solid effort.
- 2001 Feraud-Brunel Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne [Côtes du Rhône Villages Cairanne, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France] 88 pts.
50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. This wine is purchased from one specific vintner in Cairanne who simple doesn't want to be troubled with bottling it. They are looking for a young and ripe wine. On the nose there is some cherry (Mark calls it "light and airy") followed by smokey notes that grow with air. The barrel toast and Syrah seem to take over with time. On the palate this is peppery and vibrant with very pure fruit, yet the tannins are fairly chunky and a bit rough. This is still a rather admirable effort.
- 2002 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
This wine hasn't been bottled yet, but Mark drew a sample off into a pail and then bottled it. I found the nose to be off-putting with a clear scent of latex or plastic and a chemical edge. Mark noticed the smell as well and was worried that perhaps it was an artifact of an unclean bucket. All that said, on the palate the wine was clearly Châteauneuf with reasonable concentration and spiciness. It was indeed lighter in weight yet interesting with reasonable potential. Not rated due to the odd nature of the sample.
- 2001 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France] 97 pts.
To think that I thought this wine was closing down the last time I had it. Not this bottle! Popped, poured and wowed. This wine is monstrous with oodles of brawny depth on the nose, licorice and waves of briary garrigue with time to air. On the palate this is wide open, wow! White pepper and explosive, sweet fruit with unreal depth and purity. The finish is long and harmonious. We took this bottle to dinner after the tasting and it only continued to open over a four hour period. Unbelievable!
And here are the notes from my June 16th tasting with Laurence.
- 2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
Tasted from barrel. This was very nutty and round, quite nice with exciting mouthfeel. I have never had a Blanc from Pégau (and not many in general), but this is one that I want in my cellar!
- 2002 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
Tasted from bottle. Like the 2003 this is nutty yet also showing a hint of nail polish. On the palate this is somewhat astringent with excessive acidity, somewhat less flattering than the 2003 Blanc.
- 2002 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
Tasted from barrel. This taste came out of the barrel with some 'bloom,' a crusty white substance. Laurence commented that she needed to top off the barrel in question. The nose was somewhat gamey and animal. As with my taste two days earlier, the palate was somewhat spicy and interesting. After tasting this twice in three days, it is clearly respectable. At the same time, I worry that it is not at the same level as other wines in the 1998-2003 range of vintages. I may well buy a few bottles and see how they age, but for the typical Pégau fireworks this is not the vintage to reach for.
- 2003 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
Tasted from fermenter. It was fascinating talking with Laurence about the 2003. She is clearly VERY excited about what this will turn into. Despite all of the heat, they only picked one week earlier than normal. The fruit is clearly remarkably ripe, as normally the wine would be in barrel a few months already. Yet here we are in mid-June, and the wine is still fermenting with alcohol of 16.6% and rising. They want to get to 2-3 grams of residual sugar, yet right now they are over 9 grams. The last wine they had which behaved like this was the 1998 da Capo, yet that was just one tiny barrel amidst their production. This wine may well be over 17% and approaching vintage port by the time it is bottled, and I can't wait! We tasted from two of the fermenters, each of which was almost totally Grenache (along with all of the other varietals except the Syrah which ferments separately). The first fermenter yielded a taste of laser focused juice with a remarkable core of raspberry fruit. The wine is still quite sweet yet, the finish shows tons of grip that lasts for nearly a minute on the palate. Awesome structure! It is hard to find a frame of reference for comparison, and the only wine I have ever tasted like this was the 2002 Clarendon Hills Grenache Blewitt Springs which also showed amazing focus, structure and purity. We tasted one from one more fermenting vat, but that one was still very active and the wine was fizzing badly. All I could really tell was that the wine was extremely structured. This is going to be a crazy wine!
- 2001 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
Tasted from bottle. Just as the taste two days earlier, this showed no signs of being closed down. The wine showed stunning structure and was gamey, spicy, wild and delicious as always. This wine is just awesome right now. I had intended to let all of my bottles sleep, but I think I might pull out one more...
- 2000 Domaine du Pégau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée [Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Southern Rhône, Rhône, France]
Tasted from bottle. Popped and poured. This showed tons of black fruit and licorice. On the palate the garrigue emerges, and one can't help but to enjoy this wine. At the same time, it is nowhere near as rambunctious as the 2001. Laurence referred to the 2000 as a "restaurant wine," as she feels it is much more round and approachable than the 2001. In contrast, she calls the 2001 a "critic's wine" that requires contemplation and thinking. Ok by me!
A fun conclusion to this second tasting was asking Laurence what else she likes to drink. She proceeded to rattle off a long list of California wines. We also both oohed and aahed over the 1996 Quilceda (and when I hopefully return I will bring her a bottle of the 1994). It is clear that both she and Mark are passionate and excited about wine to an amazing degree.
In conclusion, thanks to both Mark and Laurence for their generosity in spending so much time with me. I hope that many other folks here get a chance to do the same in time!
Posted from CellarTracker! | | | |
| jaimetown
DC area
Wine Bottler
Posts:3488
| | 06/30/2004 7:39 PM |
| Thanks for the great write-up, Eric. French winemakers drinking American plonk? I'll believe it when I see it!  | | | |
| Eric LeVine
Grape Sorter
Posts:384
| | 06/30/2004 7:44 PM |
| I was quite amazed when both Mark and Laurence separately extolled the virtues of Turley and Ridge Zins. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I was surprised. Then again, Pegau and Southern Rhine reds in general are pretty explosive and fun. Grenache is a lot less stereotypical old-world than say Mourvedre.
Now mind you, both Mark and Laurence went to great lengths to point out that they were not seeking a lot of extraction for their wine. Rather, the grapes are very ripe, it is very hot, so they get a ton of fruit and consequently alcohol.
Both made a point of saying they are not huge fans of Bordeaux. They like fruit, a LOT. | | | |
| Doc
London, UK
Grape Puncher
Posts:729
| | 07/01/2004 2:14 PM |
| Excellent, Eric. Very jealous as I am a big fan of Pegau.
Doc | | | |
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