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Parker, Cambie, and Eclipsing 2007
No pundit in the history of the wine trade has so impacted global demand as has Robert Parker. In Bordeaux, every Chateau owner, from the First Growths on down, are said to log on to erobertparker.com the moment the latest vintage report hits the web. In the southern Rhone -- home of the darkest, juiciest, most hedonistic wines on the planet, and arguably the critic's favorite wine trail of all -- Parker makes and breaks vintages and estates with a numeric keystroke.
So, it came as no surprise to us that the publishing of the October 2011 issue of The Wine Advocate sent the top winegrowers in and around Chateauneuf-du-Pape into commercial orbit. Parker went gaga over a 2010 vintage that we believe to be the finest in thirty years, calling 2010 a 'great vintage', one that eclipses even the voluptuous 2007 in many cellars.
One of the most captivating aspects of the vintage is the way it seems to lend itself to both schools of southern Rhone winegrowing thought. For the traditionalists, these old vine blends are rich and floral, harboring mouthwatering sweet herb aromatics, superb length, and age-worthy sophistication. But for the modernists, 2010 may have paid even greater dividends. For those who adopted a protocol hell bent on pushing the envelope -- even at the price of weaker acidity in vintages like 2007 -- 2010 manages to balance all that dark, almost New World red fruit density with a sturdy backbone.
In 2010, both Parker and we loved the modernists (even if we were more critical than he was in '07 and '09). And of all those ultra-ripe success stories of 2010, few compare to what super-enologist, Philippe Cambie would bring to Parker's tasting table.
Of the 11 Chateauneuf-du-Papes that Parker would cite for 100pt potential, four were crafted by Cambie. But if Clos St. Jean, Saint Prefert and Laurent Brechet's Chateau Vaudieu Chateauneuf-du-Papes ran off with scores that sent importers into a feeding frenzy, our tasting of Cambie's 'lesser wines' was almost as riveting. Among the consultant's dense, unusually high-toned bargains, few hold a candle to Brechet's 2010 Lirac "Moulin des Chenes", drawn from that cobbled moonscape just across the river from Vaudieu. At today's under-$16/bottle price tag, you'll be left wondering how much of your 2012 wine budget should be dedicated to modernist 2010 southern Rhone reds.
Deep purple/ruby in color. Trademark Cambie on the nose, exploding with dark red fruits and sweet herbes-de-Provence, dense and persistent. Rich and wonderfully juicy on the attack, packed with wild raspberry and plum compote, silken and chewy. But this time, the finish tells the real story. Despite all the opulence, it's wonderfully light on its feet, bracketing the low yield concentration with high-toned crispness.
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Tasting Notes
2010 Famille Brechet Lirac Moulin des Chenes
"Deep purple in color with an explosive nose of dark red fruits laced with sweet herbes-de-Provence. Juicy and voluminous on the attack, packed with wild raspberry compote and dark plum, lush and silken in texture with excellent density. But it's the finish that carries the day. Excellent high-tone lift with fine, supple tannin persistence. Drink now for its youthful opulence or lay down for up to five years."
-- WineAccess Travel Log
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*Important Shipping Information
- Orders will begin shipping the week of June 4, 2012.
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