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I will not begin to extol the quality of the quite exceptional 2009 vintage. Others have done this and some long before the wines were finished fermenting, which for me to do would be strange as I don’t see myself as a fortune teller reading tea leaves!
In fact, I wished to be a little more cautious. Perhaps it is my hidden pessimism, which was telling me to hold back. Or, maybe it is the obvious difficulty of finishing wines from a rather whimsical (very low quantities) and late (especially in the southern Côtes-du-Rhône) vintage. In any case, I was both right and wrong. In the north, the vintage is superb. There were no great difficulties, the rains arrived at the right time, and the harvest and vinification ultimately went well.
The wines are concentrated, yet without aggressive tannins. They show both fruit and mineral with unusual balance. 2009 is akin to 1999, which produced rather exceptional wines. All of this you will experience for yourself with your first glass of wine from this vintage!!!
I will not detail the climatic conditions of the 2009 vintage except to say the Mistral was missing and a very hot period at the end of August placed rather stressful water conditions on certain parcels. As is often the case, we had to wait for the first rains to restart everything. The harvests were slow and difficult—we had to work on a parcel-by-parcel basis and not hesitate to stop and wait for more favorable conditions.
In the end, after a particularly tough vinification we can report the best wines will be quite exceptional. Not in the tannic way we predicted at the start of fermentation, but in a pleasant, concentrated way with incredible finesse. The maturation of the wines will reveal the full potential of the vintage—we have not seen the last surprises from this rather refined, unusual, and still secretive vintage.
Finally, a quick word to say that more and more of our sources, particularly in the southern Côtes-du-Rhône, have converted, or are in the process of converting, to organic methods, which we are most happy about. We do not wish to stress this information from a commercial perspective, but we have included this new information in the fact sheets. It is important enough in our relationship to be highlighted and each year you will be able to track the progress.
The top of La Crau.
Type of soilRound pebbles
AgeingOne year casks - Allier and Tronçais.
Winemaking100% destemmed.
14,5%
BottlingNo filtration.
CépagesGrenache : 85 % Mourvèdre : 10 % Syrah : 5 %
This is a rugged, firmly tannic rendering of Châteauneuf-du-Pape that requires time in the cellar to reach its full potential…The other flavors are potent and concentrated: plum, chocolate and licorice all leave lasting impressions on the palate.
Joe Czerwinsky
Wine Enthusiast
, 92/100
, 2013-02-01
Beautifully elegant and finesse-driven, the 2009 Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is a blend of 85% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, and 5 % Syrah that aged all in neutral French oak. It displays a deep, semi-opaque color to go with vibrant aromas of bing cherries, loads of garrigue, assorted flowers, and hints of licorice on the nose. Textbook southern Rhône and beautifully complex, with a core of sweet fruit, this silky, polished 2009 is medium to full-bodied, perfectly proportioned, balanced, and has sweet, silky tannin that emerges on the finish. While delicious now, this will age brilliantly, with 12-15+ years or more of prime drinking. Very well done and well worth seeking out.
Jeb Dunnuck
The Rhone Report
, 92/100
, 2012-06-01
Very solid, with a youthful core of blackberry, plum and fig coiled up with lots of spice, licorice snap and ganache. The tight, chewy finish needs some time to open up, but there's plenty of garrigue and smoldering fruit in reserve.
James Molesworth
Wine Spectator
, 93/100
, 2012-06-15
Bright purple. Exotic spice and potpourri scents accent intense red and dark berries on the seductively perfumed nose. Sweet, expansive and energetic on the palate, offering an array of berry and floral flavors and silky texture. Becomes spicier with air and finishes with outstanding energy, clarity and cling.
Stephen Tanzers International Wine Cellar , 93/100 , 2012-02-01
The 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes comes primarily from two sectors of Chateauneuf du Pape, La Crau and Mont Olivet. It is a dense ruby/purple color, with plenty of garrigue, lavender, black currant, black cherry, sandy, loamy soil notes along with underbrush. A quintessential wine of Provence – full-bodied, powerful, yet at the same time, elegant and very complex.
Robert Parker
Wine Advocate
, 91-93/100
, 2010-10-01