2009 Clos St. Jean Chateauneuf du Pape Combe des Fous
The Triumph of the Fools
December 14, 2011
The prestigious Clos Saint Jean is run by the fourth generation of the Tacussel/Maurel family - Vincent and Pascal Maurel -with renowned oenologist Philippe Cambie. Critics, sommeliers and consumers consider the estate to be among the top properties of the Southern Rhone. Robert Parker comments, “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 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.” The estate now boasts four Parker-perfect wines, sourced from their extraordinary old vine plots, including choice parcels in the famed La Crau district of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.
Their parcel on La Crau was called “Combe Des Fous, the Vale of Fools because its soil was thought too thin and full of big stones to work. That did not deter the Maurels’ great grandfather, Edmond, from planting vines there over a hundred years ago.
The Combe des Fous comes from 50 to 100 year-old vines. It is 60% Grenache that was cellared in concrete vats blended with 20% Syrah 10% Cinsault 10% Vaccareze, all aged in oak for a year.
2009, like 2007, was a warm year in the Rhone. The wine is marvelously dense and ripe. It is closed to start, but decanted, slowly opens to a big luxuriantly spicy wine, with hints of limestone and garrigue, worthy of aging.
Robert Parker -”The dense purple-hued 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape La Combe des Fous offers elegant kirsch notes. ... it is a rich, well proportioned effort offering notes of pen ink, raspberries, blueberries, sweet cherries and spring flowers. Full-bodied as well as polished and focused (especially for a 2009), it should drink nicely for 15-20 years.”
2009 Clos St. Jean Chateauneuf du Pape Combe des Fous Excellent
Normally $115, Special $99 Net, 30 bottles only
Order by phone at 617.367.8605, or reserve by email here: Orders
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