Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Marie Beurrier 2007

The Tb points given to this wine are the world’s most valid and most up-to-date evaluation of the quality of the wine. Tastingbook points are formed by the Tastingbook algorithm which takes into account the wine ratings of the world's best-known professional wine critics, wine ratings by thousands of tastingbook’s professionals and users, the generally recognised vintage quality and reputation of the vineyard and winery. Wine needs at least five professional ratings to get the Tb score. Tastingbook.com is the world's largest wine information service which is an unbiased, non-commercial and free for everyone.

Parker 95-97 points/ The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des Celestins performed better than it has ever done in the past, although last year I could see it coming around. This year, it looks to be a killer wine, although Bonneau still dismisses it as too tasty, too delicious, too forward, and too much like a young teenage girl who is about to fall in love and be ruined by an elderly rich man. It is dense plum/purple with notes of figs, smoked meats, charcuterie, fresh mushrooms, and loads of kirsch and black raspberry fruit. The glycerin is very high, and the alcohol must be hitting 16% plus. 

Visiting with Henri Bonneau at his subterranean wine cellar, which could easily double as a bat cave, is always one of the highlights of a year of wine tasting. This property began estate bottling in 1927, with Bonneau’s father, but can trace its history back hundreds of years. Of course, since the death of Jacques Reynaud of Rayas in 1997, Henri remains the patron saint of all things “ancien” in Chateauneuf du Pape. He is revered like no other producer in the village, and while getting an appointment is never easy, once he is familiar enough with someone, he is nothing less than a hoot and a howl to talk to and to taste with. As Harry Karis points out in his absolutely magnificent book on Chateauneuf du Pape, The Chateauneuf du Pape Wine Book, Bonneau’s favorite subjects are gastronomy, the Algerian War, and a third one that Harry didn’t mention, young women. Speaking with a Provencal twang, it’s not always easy to understand exactly what he’s saying, but his animated face and extraordinary passion for these subjects, as well as his own wines, are always a treat. Everything about Bonneau’s estate goes against modernism. The cellars are filthy, and the barrels range in age from 10 years old to probably over a century. He has a relatively small estate of just under 17 acres, and he doesn’t really bottle anything for at least five years. His most recent bottlings include the 2004 Cuvee Marie Beurrier and Reserve des Celestins and the 2005 Reserve des Celestins, which won’t be released until next year.

Parker 94 points: The 1990 Marie Beurrier is the most powerful, concentrated offering Bonneau has produced under that label. The color is nearly black and the alcohol level is well over 15%. The huge nose suggests considerable sur-maturite (maximum ripeness) in its cassis, peach, apricot, heady nose. In the mouth, the thick, rich flavors viscously coat the palate, covering not only the alcohol, but some serious tannins as well. This full-bodied, exceptionally decadent wine makes for a sumptuous mouthful of Chateauneuf du Pape. Bonneau thinks it will be at its best in about five years and last for 15 or more years.