Updated: May 30, 2023
Like 2005 and 2009, 2010 has a dark hue and a matt, tight, black-tinged, opaque core. The first nose offers plenty of ripe dark fruit; the second has gamey nuances. It is fresher. Again, if you are looking for power, this differs from wine. But if you are looking for Pessac Leognan 's classic elements closer to gravel, tobacco and autumnal leaves, typical of the commune, this is the wine for you. And if you are particularly looking for a substance that helps to enhance the seam of appealingly ripe and sinewy tannins, this is the guy. Persistent and fleeting, the palate soothes with delicate flesh at first, although it is a bit less fat than expected, pleasingly textured throughout the tasting—some mileage. DD94.
The scores are good.
WE93. Fresh, citrus and spicy pear flavours, a wine laced with acidity, a crisp texture and an elegant bright aftertaste. Edited.
JS93. This is a wine that shows lots of chocolate, tobacco and currants. Full body, with velvety tannins and a long finish. All there. Edited.
RP92.From Helene Garcin, this blend of 70% Cabernet Sauvignon and 30% Merlot displays classic tobacco leaf and smoky barbecue notes, rich black currants, and crushed rocks in a medium to full-bodied, seductive, attractively up-front style. It is a sleeper of the vintage. (RP) Edited.
Medium ruby colour with a tight garnet core. The wine is plummy, fruity(red primarily fruited), ripe and soft. It is easy to understand with good complexity and texture, and is very pleasing and harmonious. This bottle is in its best window to savour now of medium palate.
Scores reflect well the style and value.
RP90. Sexy, lush and deep ruby/purple in colour, ripe, sweet notes of plums, black currants and cherries jump from the glass of this sleeper of the vintage. An undeniably endearing style of wine, generously endowed, plump and easy to appreciate, its evolved complexity and fleshy fruit make for a delicious yet classic Graves to drink over the next decade or more. Bravo. Edited.
NM92. A blend of 65% Merlot and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon cropped a 49hl/ha; the Château Ferran has a gorgeous bouquet of blackberry, dark plum and a touch of wild strawberry. The purity and definition is top-class. The palate is very smooth on the entry, the ripeness of the Merlot deftly contained, very harmonious and pure towards the blackberry, cedar and tobacco-tinged finish. This is not a long-term Pessac-Leognan, but it is beautifully crafted and offers much short- to medium-term pleasure. Edited.
It is challenging to snapshot through words for a complex wine like Domaine de la Janasse Vieilles Vignes and its vintage 2013. This wine could be understood through tasting another pantheon of greats, such as Jacque Perrins, Vieux Telegraphe and Clos de la Jean. Then, of course, there is every seriousness and 'typicity'. Purple colour with tight, pink rim; purple flower bouquet(lavender, rose). On the nose, cinnamon-wrapped dried cranberry; minty and black peppery. On the palate, firm and structured tannin and full-bodied, with lingering tastes of cranberry, raspberry, nutmeg, liquorice, fig and blueberry and pomegranate reduction. Given our shortage of words, we can only add that it is poised and balanced, floral and savoury, luxurious and yet feminine. Minimum intervention in the field, as always; however, there is constant work and refinement behind this seeming inactivity. 2013 is less intense than 2012.
Vintage 2013 is a fresher wine compared to 2012- there is more Syrah to strengthen the structure of the wine; This is From 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre; Raised in one-year-old big barrels and small barrels ( 25% to 40% new, French oak for 12 months)to add to complexity); Vines are 60 to 100 yeard-old and on clay-limestone soils that are full of the region's famous large pebbles absorbing heat from the sun during the day and keep vines warm at night, encouraging ripeness and intensity of flavour; Total production averages 850 cases per year only!
High scores and accolades. For example: 95 points Wine Spectator. Features ample stuffing, with lots of dark plum sauce, crushed cherry and warm blackberry confiture flavors forming the core. Melted black licorice, plum eau-de-vie and black tea notes fill in the background. Reveals a lovely echo of ganache at the very end. (JM) (11/2015). Not edited.
94 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
While the cuvée Chaupin comes mostly from sandy soils, the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Vieilles Vignes comes more from the rolled pebble soils the region is famous for, and always shows the richer, more powerful profile imparted from these soils. Mostly foudre-aged Grenache, it incorporates 20% Mourvèdre and roughly 10% Syrah (slightly more Syrah in 2013) that’s raised all in barrel. Exhibiting a deep purple color, it offers fabulous dark berry fruits, licorice, Provençal herbs and earthy/stony minerality on the nose. (JD) (10/2015). Not Edited.
