Wine Advisor
Henri Bonneau, Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins 2009
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Deep ruby. Seductive scents of ripe blackberry and boysenberry, singed plum and star anise, lifted by an intense floral topnote. Sweet, expansive dark fruit flavors show excellent concentration, with suggestions of licorice pastille and orange pith giving the wine an exotic character. Shows outstanding clarity and power on the extremely long finish, which is shaped by smooth, slow-building tannins.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Dark ruby. Pungent, expansive aromas of black and blue fruits, licorice, incense and violet, with a zesty spicy overtone. Shows outstanding depth and power, with potent dark fruit compote flavors and an enlivening jolt of minerality adding lift and bite. Closes sweet, sappy and extremely long, leaving sexy floral pastille and spicecake notes behind. Fans of Bonneau's wines need to start hoarding their nickels and Benjamins for this one.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Inky ruby. A heady bouquet evokes ripe dark fruits and incense, with intense mineral and floral nuances adding complexity. Reaches every corner of the palate, offering sweet boysenberry and blackberry flavors that gain energy and spiciness in the glass. Tannins make a late appearance but are smoothly folded into this wine's lush, concentrated fruit. Deep but lively, finishing with outstanding clarity and length.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. Blackberry, blueberry and bitter chocolate on the explosively perfumed nose. Quite supple on entry, then densely packed and chewy in the mid-palate, lending noteworthy energy to the black and blue fruit flavors. Plenty of lively acidity here as well. Broadens out impressively on the back end, finishing with velvety tannins and superb persistence.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Tasted from bottle include the 2009 Châteauneuf du Pape Reserve des Célestins, which was purchased stateside. It’s about as Provençal as they come and garrigue, kirsch liqueur, cured meats, saddle leather and licorice notes literally soar from this ruby-colored, full-bodied, sexy, heady Châteauneuf du Pape that has tons of glycerin and fat, sweet tannin and a great finish. Reminding me of a lighter weight 1990 with its sunny, sexy personality, it’s already hard to resist and should continue drinking nicely for 15+ years.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Even better, the 2009 Châteauneuf du Pape Reserve des Célestins is similar to the Marie Beurrier, yet has additional concentration, mid-palate depth and sweet tannin. The balance here is superb, and it gains more and more structure with time in the glass. There’s plenty of similarities to the ’07 (and to a lesser extent, the 2011), and given this showing, it should have a broad drink window.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins might be the wine of the vintage and got a big “Wow” in the notebook. Thrillingly perfumed, with kirsch, currants, herbs de Provence, dried meats and spice-like aromas and flavors, it is an absolute knockout on the nose. This is all backed up by full-bodied richness in the mouth, and it possesses terrific mid-palate depth, layers of sweet tannin and a finish that pumps out plenty of sweet fruit. I don’t know when it will be bottled, but certainly, I was blown away by the wine. A great, and eye opening, visit that goes to show that sanitation might not be everything when it comes to winemaking, Henri Bonneau’s cellar is as incredibly humid, dirty and packed a cellar as I’ve ever seen. (In comparison, Rayas, which would give some Central Coast winemakers a heart attack, seems as sanitary as the International Space Station.) Nevertheless, Bonneau portrays a zest for life and the sweet nectar that comes out of the barrels could come from nowhere else. It’s also times like that when you realize how lucky we are, as wine lovers today, to have the access to a gentleman like Henri Bonneau and to be able to taste his wines. They won’t exist forever. During the visit, we went through every vintage back to 2005, however, due to the incredible time in barrel prior to bottling (some wines spend upward of 5 years in barrel), I question the correlation to what I tasted to what will actually end up in barrel (or the use of reviewing 2012s and 2011s now, when they won’t be released for years). As such, I’ve opted to just review the 2009s, 2008 (which is in bottle), the 2007 (which, based on my tasting, could be bottled tomorrow and be fabulous) and the 2006, which I reviewed last year for the Rhone Report. Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Deep ruby. Seductive scents of ripe blackberry and boysenberry, singed plum and star anise, lifted by an intense floral topnote. Sweet, expansive dark fruit flavors show excellent concentration, with suggestions of licorice pastille and orange pith giving the wine an exotic character. Shows outstanding clarity and power on the extremely long finish, which is shaped by smooth, slow-building tannins.
About the Producer
Domaine Henri Bonneau's reputation is as legendary as its owner, Henri Bonneau. Its rustic home in the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation in the Rhone Valley is situated at the end of a village, its cellars overflowing with large and small aged oak barrels and its stone walls covered in potholes. Dirty cellars, old mouldy barrels, all these conditions are a winemaker's nightmare. But it was here that the Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve des Celestins was made, which has been praised by wine drinkers all over the world; it was here that Bonneau brewed his philosophy of a happy nature into the aromas of his wine; it was here that Bonneau brewed the treasures from the La Crau plateau. It is here that Bonneau has turned the treasures of La Crau into an exceptional wine. Henri Bonneau himself determines each speciality, which is graded according to its quality: Henri Bonneau, Marie Beurrier, Reserve des Celestins and Cuvee Speciale, which may be just one of the four or all four. But no matter how they are blended, the winemaking is the same. What also makes Château Henri Bonnot unique is the ageing of the barrels, which come from the Burgundy region and date back to the 17th century. A visit to Henri's cellars is therefore like walking into a museum. The wines produced here are usually aged for more than six years before being bottled unfiltered after Bonnot himself has tasted them. The result is a wine with a powerful bouquet, balanced flavours and a long finish, particularly in the case of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Célestins Reserve red wine, of which around 1,500 cases are produced each year. The best vintages of Château Henri Bonnot have the distinctive taste of concentrated bovine blood, powerfully combined with a thick and viscous texture. The best recent vintages are the 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998, 1995, 1990, 1989, 1988, 1986, 1985 and 1981.
