Clos St Jean, Chateauneuf Du Pape Deus Ex Machina 2007

robert_parker93

Reviewed by: Neal Martin

Tasted at the Grenache Symposium. A blend of 65% Grenache and 35% Mourvedre and cropped at 20hl/ha (14.5% alcohol), this is very focused on the nose with dark cherry, game, camphor and wild strawberry – very lifted and perfumed. The palate is very harmonious and well balanced, a real backbone to this wine thanks to the Mourvedre with a dense, saline-tinged finish that lingers long on the finish. Lovely. Drink now-2020+ Tasted June 2010.

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck

Like the 2010, the still inky colored 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus ex Machina is as good as it gets. Both incredibly decadent and elegant at the same time, it offers outrageous aromas of mulled blackberries, cured meats, spring flowers and exotic spices to go with a full bodied, seamless, layered, yet massively constructed profile on the palate. Showing the depth and texture of this phenomenal vintage, it’s a monumental effort that’s still an infant in terms of development. It lives up to the hype (I still remember tasting this on release, in the cellar with Vincent, and leaving with nothing but a crazy smile on my face) and can be consumed anytime over the coming two decades. Since taking control of the estate in 2002, and bringing on board rock star consultant Philippe Cambie, the Maurel brothers has been knocking it out of the park in literally every vintage. 2004? Gorgeous wines and easily at the top in a recent retrospective. The cooler, rainy 2008? Beautiful ripeness and texture, and again, at the top of the hierarchy. 2011 is the same story, and it’s amazing what this team has accomplished in all of their vintages. Looking at this retrospective, we went through all of their cuvees going back to 2003. Unfortunately, there’s no new information here, and this tasting simply confirmed what myself and Robert Parker have been saying for some time now; Clos Saint Jean is at the top of their game and producing some of the most singular, hedonistic and brilliant wines in the world. Starting out with the classic Chateauneuf du Pape, it’s normally a blend of 75% Grenache, with the balance a mix of Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Muscardin and Vaccarese. As is common at this estate, the Grenache is aged all in tank, and the other varieties in a mix of tank and barrels. While I think this cuvee always lags the Vieilles Vignes bottling, it is consistently outstanding and always a super value. Moving to the old vine cuvee, this is made especially for the US Market and is 85% tank aged, old vine Grenache, and the balance Syrah and Mourvedre. It too almost always represents a crazy value and has a broad drink window. I’m currently finishing up a case of the ’08, and purchased two cases of the 2010, which is just starting to open back up after closing down shortly after release. As to the Combe des Fous release, this cuvée comes from a single plot of vines and is based largely on Grenache, with roughly 20% Syrah and 10% each of Vaccarese and Cinsault in the blend. The Grenache is aged all in tank and the other components see time in mostly demi-muids. While the Deux ex Machina always impresses more with its overt power and muscle, this cuvee always seems more polished, fine and elegant to me. One of the greatest cuvees on earth, the Maurel brother’s Sanctus Sanctorum is 100% Grenache that comes from a single plot of vines in the La Crau lieu dit. Aged all in demi-muid, it’s been one of the greatest wines I’ve ever tasted, every time I’ve tasted it. All three of these were sheer perfection on this occasion, yet each has its own unique profile. Lastly, and always the most powerful of the cuvees, the Deus Ex Machina is a blend of 60% tank aged Grenache and 40% demi-muid aged Mourvedre that all comes from 70-100 year old vines. The Mourvedre component is really what defines this cuvee, and it possesses the most obvious structure and mid-palate richness in the lineup. Seeming to hit maturity around age 10 or so, it can be consumed relatively early in its life due to its wealth of fruit, texture, and incredibly polished tannin. In addition, don’t miss this cuvee in the lighter vintages, as even their 2004 and 2008 show classic character and no shortage of richness. Importers: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

Then there is the opaque ruby/purple-colored 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus-Ex Machina, a blend of 60% Grenache (aged in foudre) and 40% Mourvedre (aged in small barrels), all from very old vines on La Crau. The Mourvedre component gives the Deus-Ex Machina a more meaty, animal (in a good sense) style, but the huge amounts of blackberry and kirsch-like fruit are flamboyant. The wine is backward, powerful, full-bodied, and more of a long-term proposition than the four other cuvees. It possesses massive concentration and depth as well as extraordinary balance, freshness, and laser-like focus. This amazing effort should prove to be a modern day Chateauneuf du Pape legend. Drink it over the next 20-30 years. What a remarkable group of wines is emerging from proprietor Vincent Maurel, who works with the genius of Southern Rhone viticulture and winemaking, Philippe Cambie. A succession of superb wines began at this estate in 2003, when it finally began to live up to its superb potential (Clos Saint-Jean is one of the largest holders of top vineyards in Chateauneuf du Pape, with 120 acres, including some of the finest sites for old vine Grenache and Mourvedre). This may well be one of the most exciting addresses not only in France, but in the entire wine world. As the following notes testify, the 2006s are even more profound from bottle than they were from foudre and demi-muids. Moreover, 2007 may be the finest vintage at Clos Saint-Jean since 2003. Readers should keep in mind that Maurel and Cambie have aged the old vine Grenache in old foudres and some 600-liter demi-muids, but the Syrah and Mourvedre components are kept in small barrels. In short, these wines are not to be missed! To reiterate, as mind-blowing as the 2007s are, I believe that along with Clos des Papes and a handful of other domaines, Clos St.-Jean’s 2006s are the wines of the vintage. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Robert M. Parker, Jr.

The following three wines are as great as money can buy, and all three represent extraordinary achievements. I have tasted the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus-Ex Machina three times from bottle. On two of the three times I thought it was the single greatest red wine I have ever tasted. The third time it was merely perfect. Made from 60- to 100+-year-old vines (60% tank-aged Grenache and 40% Mourvedre aged in new and one-year-old oak barrels), from yields no larger than one half ton of fruit per acre, it boasts a saturated purple color as well as a surreal concoction of heavenly aromatic delights (creme de cassis, kirsch liqueur, licorice, spring flowers, spice box, and smoke). The wine hits the palate with an extraordinary seamless display of incredibly rich, pure fruit, and a full-bodied, multilayered texture that nearly defies belief. It is almost an insult to try to articulate what this wine tastes like. My tasting notes ended with the words “great, great, and great.” This is a remarkable achievement even for such a famous vintage, and this 2007 is destined to be one of the legends of the new century. The finish lasts over 60 seconds, and the wine has the accessibility to be appreciated now, but it will not hit its peak for another 5-7 years, and will last at least 25+ years. Bravo to proprietors Pascal and Vincent Maurel as well as their consulting genius, Philippe Cambie, who seems to have a very strong emotional attachment to the Maurel family as well as to their vineyards. What can I write that will give proper acknowledgment to what has occurred at this extraordinary estate since 2002, when brothers Pascal and Vincent Maurel took control of Clos Saint-Jean, and had the foresight to bring in the gifted wine consultant/oenologist, Philippe Cambie. Their first vintage (2002) was the worst year for Chateauneuf du Pape since 1932, but they survived it to go on a make an incredible succession of wines starting with some of the finest 2003s. Those were followed each vintage with remarkable efforts, ending with what may be the finest 2008s I tasted on my recent trip. This is an old, very large estate (110+ acres) with fabulous old vine holdings throughout the appellation. They possesses vineyards in some of Chateauneuf du Pape’s finest areas, including the plateau on the west, the famed La Crau on the east, and some sensational old vine parcels just north of the village. There is considerable history at Clos Saint-Jean, with the first estate-bottled wines being produced in 1910, but Vincent and Pascal’s father sold the wines as they were bottled, so frequently the wines were oxidized and tired by the time they were bottled. Now, everything is bottled at the same time, essentially after 12-15 months of aging. The same winemaking philosophy is used for all the cuvees, which are different blends from different parcels. However, Vincent, Pascal, and Philippe Cambie only age their Grenache in tank. The Syrah and Mourvedre are aged in one- and two-year-old demi-muids, and occasionally smaller barrels. With the construction of a new winery in 2009, this estate appears set to have an even more efficient operation, with more space than they had in their old, turn of the century facility. The 2008s have turned out well, primarily because the Maurels waited to achieve full maturity in this challenging vintage. There was lots of culling out of the mildewed grapes as well as enormous labor-intensive efforts at the winery’s triage tables. The 2007 tastings prove that if you have been doing this long enough, at some point you will experience a level of profoundness that can still surpass anything done in the last 30+ years. The tasting of the five 2007 cuvees must rank among the greatest single tasting in the southern Rhone I have ever done in 30+ years of wine tasting. Last year (see Issue #179) I sensed something special was happening, and the bottled 2007s confirm that something rare had occurred in the vineyards and cellars of Clos Saint-Jean. Two separate tastings, one week apart, confirmed that Clos St.-Jean’s 2007s represent an achievement and level of experience that will forever be difficult to replicate. Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

robert_parker100

Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck

A bigger, richer, more masculine style than the la Combe des Fous, the powerhouse styled 2007 Châteauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina is an insanely good wine that has a huge nose of roasted meats, crushed rocks, graphite, spice and black currants. It has a serious amount of tannin, but they’re still covered by a wealth of fruit, and it’s impeccably balanced and doesn’t have a hard edge anywhere. It’s killer stuff today, but like the Combe des Fous, it has an additional 10-15 years of prime drinking and will keep even longer.