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I ordered a bottle. Have one of our BYO Hawksmoor dinners coming up and this saves me the embarrassment of not having anything more than 25 years old to bring with me.
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oh… those… cannot wait for them to resume
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only a couple of weeks away before you can eat inside, go book a table for the BYO Monday!!
Sorry if I’m late to the show but definitely “Go for it”. That’s a good price, alright your’re going to be taking a chance, but better to know than not to know.
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Interesting, I had 5 bottles of £10-20 wine in my bag and, on a whim, I added a French bottle which was Chateauneuf du Pape Mourre des Perdrix Domaine de Charbonniere at £35. It had no reviews and I felt like adding one but i’m new to wine drinking and I’m not familiar with the lingo. The review would have been something like this, “It burned on the way down (is that acidic or the 15.5% alcohol). It would go well with beef as it cleans your mouth out better than Corsodyl. Opened on Monday but the last glass on Thursday was better, more fruity.” I did not post the review in case the WS got stuck with the stuff. But leaving the tong in cheek sarcasm aside I would buy it again and might be tempted to try this £72 bottle. Any suggestions about how to make up a half case would be wellcome.
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Congratulations, those years fly by don’t they.
Not a C9DP drinker, in fact never tasted one before so can’t help with a selection. Maybe try posting on The Rhone Rangers thread as I am sure you will get plenty help. Here is a link to the CellerTracker page for the wine you tried. My reading from the reviews is that the wine is a bit young.
Thanks for the link. I was asking for general suggestions about what is good in the 10 to 30 pound range at the moment. I should not be hijacking the thread, so I’ll start a new one.
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First review
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You would think a wine of this age, after shipping, would need more time to settle before opening than has passed between it being offered and this review being posted (I.e. I’m surprised someone has opened and tried it already).
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There is no evidence that wines improve if left to settle after transport - as the second review indicates, although it may be necessary if there is sediment which doesn’t seem to be the case here.
If it’s fifty years old I would be very surprised if there isn’t any sediment.
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I decanted the last 200 ml through a coffee filter. It passed through slowly but left only a tiny amount of very fine sediment. Elsewhere, members have described this wine as almost youthful. This was not my experience and there seems to be bottle to bottle variation.
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My detailed tasting notes
Colour
I have seen darker CdPs but those were at least 35 years younger. This one was going towards the ruby end of the spectrum (see picture above). Lovely. No hints of brown.
Texture
Medium-low density. Not silky yet it pleasantly enveloped my mouth with plenty of flavours.
Nose
I was outside, under cold / windy conditions, so it was not ideal, but I could detect some very nice notes - spices and fruits.
Palate
Quite frankly, you could not / cannot guess this is a 50 year old wine. Not possible. There’s still so much elegance left on this, compared to some of the other 40+ year old bottles I’ve drank (and there were many). Harmonious and drinkable beyond belief. The quality of the fruit is obvious, and the blend plays the strengths of the terroir. This is unmistakably a red Rhone wine. No violets to be found here. But there’s grape and plenty of it. Especially Grenache which, when cultivated well and under proper conditions, produces some of the best age-worthy wines on earth. Fruits, spices and many other aromas and flavours developed in the nose and mouth. The finish is not exceptionally long, but it is nice and satisfying. No nasty surprises at the end.
Conclusion
A very nice CdP from a producer unknown to me. It was immensely enjoyed by my outdoor guests, who were quick to praise its qualities. Now, would I drink more of this? No, but not because of the merits of this wine, but rather because of budget considerations (it’s expensive) and because there are many other old wines I would like to try. Nevertheless, as an experience, I am glad I did it.
Like I said on another thread, 50 is the new 40, but in this case, it’s more like it’s the new 25.
Now on to the 72 Rieussec bottles waiting to be consumed with some foie gras.
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6 cases should last you a while
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I still remember that '72 we shared together! Should have another TWS offline sometime
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Me too - this was the BYOB in Feb 2019, right?.. a lovely evening and the wine as fresh as a daisy! 
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It was a place in Charlotte street, no?
Yep! The Ninth in Fitzrovia 
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I had a case of Beaucastel from 1990.
I had my last bottle recently and it had past its peak at 30 years.
So on this basis I won’t be buying a wine I’ve never heard of just because it’s old.
I’d rather have a 50 year old sweet wine.
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