Domaine du vieux Lazaret - Chateauneuf du Pape

 Farai un vers de dreit nien,
Non er de mi ni d'autra gen,
Non er d'amor ni de joven,
Ni de ren au,
Qu'enans fo trobatz en durmen
Sus un chivau...
   
(Sheer nothing`s all I`m singing of:
Not me and no one else, of course:
There`s not one word of youth and love
Nor anything:
I thought this up, once, on my horse
While slumbering)
(W.D Snodgrass)
   
Guillaume IX d`Aquitaine


Another Christmas wine I had. This time from Southern Rhone valley. The Rhone valley and also the whole Provence, is an area that has always interested me. Its hard to pinpoint excactly why, but I guess its many things: The rugged landscapes, with brutal mistral winds, of course the Mediterranean climate, mesmerizing lavendel fields, awesomely sturdy cuisine, with all its beautiful herbs, beautiful wines.. But also as a History geek, the Medieval past, and specially the culture of the Troubadours. Names like Bernart de Ventadorn, Jaufre Rudel, Reimbaut de Vacqueras, Guilleme IX d` Aquitane have fascinated me for a long time. They were traveling poets / singers, who wrote and sung in old Occitan. They had an enourmous influence on the European poetry, and culture of the time, and are credited as an inventors of the concept of "Romantic Love". They Influenced also, to name a few, Dante Alighieri, the German Minnesingers(German version of Troubadours), and also none other than Geoffrey Chaucer.

Domaine du vieux Lazaret
Chateauneuf du Pape
2010
ACC
14,5%
28€(33$) Wine-searcher average price

Bouqet has lots of ripe dark fruits, but also strawberries and cherries. Somewhat oaky, vanilla, strong earthy notes, Barnyardy stuff.
On palate there`s nice ripe, tad bit jammy, strawberries and blueberries. Also quite a bit of chocolate. Really intense mouthfeel with surprisingly strong acidity, and in the end, big tannins. Alcohol is present, but not in a disturbing way, well integrated. Good structure. Leaves somewhat long aftertaste with even more strawberries, and chocolate, also some spices, but at the end this is really dominated by intense strawberry flavour. Which actually was the last thing I could taste from the wine, even after the "regular" aftertaste, they came haunting on my palate:).
Robust and powerfull CdP, made for ageing.
91+