Thursday, August 6, 2009

2005 Clos Saint Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina

The nose was all exotic spices and black cherries. The palate reveals some silky and uber-ripened black cherries, black pepper, soy, cedar, vanilla and some crushed pebbles. That rich exotic quality is sure present through-out. A medium weight mouthfeel with some deftly balanced tannins, which were just slightly angular, and a moderate acid base. A long finish of 90+ seconds. This wine needs at least 5 more years to show itself as it was surely holding back about 50% of what I believe it could be: A wonderfully elegant but powerfully possessive character-filled Châteauneuf. It really has it all, it just needs to come together.