Pignan, Chateauneuf-du-Pape

nose - strawberries galore, maraschino cherry, very fragrant, can just sit here and smell this all day long mouth - strawberry, a tad confected / liqueresque, I can see the comments about the high etoh which is likely a reflection of the vintage. every bit as charming as prior pignans but perhaps it'd be best placed as a cheese pairing at the end of dinner.

2007 vintage

Bought on release, professional storage, perfect fill. Les Amis tasting at La Voile. Insanely floral, beautiful nose, great mid palate and length. Totally ready to go wine, at peak. Convincing argument Grenache grown in sand is analogous to Les Amoureuses in the right hands. Tasted with 2008 Rayas which came across as needing more time, probably more complex in the long run, but it was (for me) 94(+) tonight compared to just a pip higher for this spectacular Pignan (95).

2007 vintage

Trop d alcool Nez épicé Bouche fuyante

2007 vintage

Ouvert 24h à l’avance Nez fantastique, puissance 10 et très ouvert sur la framboise, le kirsh, le poivre blanc, le bois de santal et l’écorce d’orange L’attaque est profonde et précise, le kirsh domine, avec la framboise, l’écorce d’orange et le poivre. L’ensemble est suave, élégant, bien que costaud, mais tout est balancé et facile. On sent bien que c’est un millésime concentré, on sens aussi la signature châteauneuf et l’effet rayas qui semble transformer le tout en délicatesse. Longue …

2007 vintage

The birthday BBQ for WW (MS) : My second Pignan and a very generous share from Chris who brought this as a second bottle. Firing on all cylinders from the first pour! Signature bouquet on full display here with crunch bayberries, mulberries, cloves and sandalwood. Palate mirrors bouquet with incredible purity and concentration with which a solid earthy minerality base. Perfect showing really and what a wonderful drink!

2007 vintage

LVDO10anni dinner. La Paulée style. Another one of those signature styles that would be hard to miss in a blind. Kirsch and red licorice from nose to palate. Airy ripe sweet Grenache fruit. Flirts with sweet caramel.

2005 vintage

Beautiful spot for this wine. Served blind. Guessed older burgundy from a ripe year, or even a new world Pinot. Once revealed, it made more sense, and wow, what a wine. Beautiful nose, sweet fruits maybe even a little RS? It’s wild, a hint bretty, lots of figs and paste. Actually firm tannins remain on the finish, and it will hold for a good many years. Very sweet though

2005 vintage

Decanted around 3:30 and tasted about 7:00 PM. On initial decanting at cellar temp, this smelled fine. As it warmed up, alcohol, VA and a plummy note dominated. A few hours later, it did come around a little, but still disappointing.

2007 vintage

One inch of ullage. I was worried about the dried cork and leakage. Much sediment. 2 hour decant allowed nice development. Deep ruby with pale edge. Leather and cherry chocolate with a hint of licorice on the palate. Very nice with Boeuf Bourguingnonne.

1989 vintage

Nose: lychee, red tea, roast potato, rose, green pepper, roast meat Notes: 14% ABV. The Rayas series is always something special and unlike any other Rhone. This wine is highly seductive, meaty and also very interesting and delicious. Pignan is indeed quite a good substitute these days for the mighty Rayas as the price tag is getting quite hefty and for those who are looking for something that carries both the merits of Burgundy and Bordeaux one should not look …

2002 vintage

(Horizontale de 2007 E Reynaud) Sans doute le meilleur des 3 Pignan 2007 que j'ai dégusté. Certes, il offre la puissance du lieu et du millésime, mais le temps a fait son oeuvre et la complexité des vins de E Reynaud fut au rendez-vous. Nez confit (griotte, fraise confiturée, confiture de vieux garçon) et floral (pot-pourri), épicé, légère olive verte, orange, herbes de provence, on retrouve une trame connue (Ch des Tours, Rayas) en moins prononcée cependant. La bouche est …

2007 vintage

There’s a green streak running through the bouquet and I’m thinking this must be whole bunch. Airy, elegant fruited palate, pepper notes, cherry fruit, ripe, sweet Grenache with great purity and lift. Asian spices underneath. Singular wine without a doubt. And grand vin in the bottle. No hurry here, this is quietly intense.

2005 vintage

Basically undrinkable. Hot, overripe and volatile.

2007 vintage

Most people blinded and guessed hot vintage Rayas. Dark fruit dominates. Youthful for its age. Enjoyable

1989 vintage

It’s been 3 years since I last drank this and it’s certainly come along in its evolution. PNP was initially reticent but came alive after over an hour. All the beautiful hawthorn and kirsch traits but quite a bit of power as well. It was my wotn in a interesting tasting of parisy, pilade, grand reserva blanc and rouge, vacqueyras and fonsalette. Tasting across the range showed how consistent and the rayas signature across the wines.

2007 vintage

Amazing dark red fruits - still can age - little overbearing / high intensity

2005 vintage

I really loved this tonight! I drank a bottle of 07' Rayas 2 years ago and found it to be fairly ripe and heavy, lacking the elegance of the 06' and 08' that I've loved so much. With the huge recent jump in market price for Rayas, the price of the 07' was far from reflecting my personal enjoyment of the wine, so I sold all of my remaining bottles. This 07' Pignan was quite different though -- super pretty …

2007 vintage

Reynaud Tasting (Freiheit Vinothek, Ulm, Germany) : Glass: Spiegelau Universal All wines tasted blind/blind, opened a few hours before and decanted right before the tasting. Clear, deep garnet color. Fine, elegant, Grenache driven nose. On the palate quite elegant and balanced, but also with powerful warm, sweet red fruit. Bold, deep, quite long. 91

2007 vintage

Easter Sunday lunch, very nice nose with classic cdp spices & red fruit though missing the classic Rayas/Pignan floral & strawberry nose, solid palate with distinct sweet Grenache finish

2007 vintage

Cheese and herbs on the nose. Strawberries. Touch of stems. Pretty. Cool fruit on the palate. Elegant. So much lighter and more open than the Rayas.

2007 vintage

Ouvert 24 heures à l’avance, sans remettre le bouchon. Pignan est le plus « Châteauneuf » du domaine avec son terroir de galets roulés et cette bouteille l'a démontré. Une couleur pâle, orangée, qui le trahit souvent à l'aveugle. Le nez complexe évoque les parfums classiques du domaine, fraises des champs, garrigue et orange sanguine. La bouche est concentrée, encore virile, poivrée et d’une gourmandise folle. L’aération douce l’a affiné, mais n’a pas réduit sa puissance aromatique. C’est concentré et …

2007 vintage

(CdV) Un des meilleurs Pignan que j’ai bu… Peut-être parce que la patte Reynaud y est plus marquée que sur d’autres millésimes ? En tout cas, il etait en pleine forme, superbe de complexité, alliant le thé noir au poivre, les fruits a l’alcool, la fraise mara et une pointe d’olive verte et du pot-pourri (la signature), des herbes de la garrigue . On a certes pas la finesse de Rayas (qui lui sort des murs de Châteauneuf-du-Pape pour le …

2005 vintage

(Verkostet aus der Normalflasche (75cl) im Rahmen der C9dP Probe von Peter Buser) Mittleres Granatrot. Die Nase ist expressiv und sehr "Rayas-like", ein Mix aus roten Früchten, Wiesenblüten, Erdbeermarmelade, eine Nasendroge. Im Gaumen zugänglich, fruchtbetont, süsslicher Auftakt, feinmaschiges Tannin, milde Säure, der Alkohol drängt hier etwas durch, dennoch bleibt der Wein elegant und ausgewogen, zeigt nicht die grosse Struktur, hinterlässt im Abgang wieder diese typische Erdbeeraromatik sowie Rosinen im Rückaroma. 93 vvPunkte www.vvwine.ch

2007 vintage

This was the remaining 2/3 of the bottle coravined from before. Took a while to open but when it did it revealed a pungent moss nose and clipped cherry with leather palate. Not as good as the big brother Rayas ‘07 but shows its own. 94/100

2007 vintage

Part of a grenache blind tasting. A warmer expression here, with some rustic notes, but balanced by some classic Rayas purity. It was a good wine, but maybe a bit warm, at least compared to the better Comando G.

2005 vintage

Beautiful Rayas nose here with red fruit and sweet spices, farmyard funk, deep and complex. Ripe but the balance is correct on the palate, but the hot 2007 vintage cannot fully hide here, a bit too much warmth on the expense of freshness and structure is also visible here like in so many 2007 CdP. Nose 96+, palate 94.

2007 vintage

Regouté 2 fois récemment et la même impression : ce millésime offre une puissance alcoolique presque déséquilibrée, en tout cas a la limite. Ok la trame aromatique est superbe, nuancée de notes reynaudiennes (olive verte, pot pourri, fraise écrasée) et classiques de l’appellation (epices, liqueur de fruit…), ok la trame acidulée et saline est prononcée, la rondeur caressante, les tanins assez fins, mais bon sang que l’alcool prend d’importance en bouche! Bien surveiller la température de service… 16° semble judicieux.

2007 vintage

Slow oxed for an hour, wow wine! Very good for a Pignan, Rayas like, rich, full bodied, sweet Grenache almost liquorish, sexy & v tarty, will improve with age 94+

2007 vintage

Beautiful Rayas nose jumping from the glass with expressive red fruit and sweet spices. There is considerably more ripeness in this 2007 than in other vintages of the Rayas stable I had. This converts into darker fruit, pruney, liquorice and kirsch nots as the wine sat in the glass. Rich and lush palate that carries the alcohol well. A very good wine but I like the less ripe vintages better. 2007 was really a Parker year and it shows in …

2007 vintage

Bouteille légèrement épaulée et rebouchée 24h avant dégustation. Nez très intense de fraise, de rose et d'épice. Bouche puissante mais équilibrée et parfaitement digeste. Bu en parallèle avec Rayas 2005, ce qui a permis de faire ressortir une géniale opposition de style : Pignan sur la puissance et la générosité, Rayas sur l'élégance et la profondeur.

2005 vintage

Blind. Burgundian nose but obviously not Burgundy; initial conclusion is something like Rayas but without its level of excellence. Further pours shifted the guess North; could be a non-smoky 80s Chave? La Chapelle 1978? Surprised to see the vintage, although we were not incorrect with such smooth and resolved tannin. Trust the instinct! 93-94

2007 vintage

Le gagnant de la dégustation horizontale. Les tannins sont fins, les arômes typiques du domaine, la structure équilibrée. Vraiment exceptionnel ce soir.

2007 vintage

Wow, this was excellent last night. I hadn’t opened one in about 5 years, and at that time it was a hot, brambly mess. Last night’s bottle was singing, and my blind tasting group all got to the Rayas part of their guessing immediately. But it was so good, and so typically Rayas, that no one even thought to guess it was Pignan. It was simply assumed that it was the big brother CdP Reservee. A real pleasure.

2007 vintage

[Drank out of coravine, first pour] The wine has ample ripe red fruit notes (raspberry, strawberry) mixed with leather and hints of spice jumping out of the glass at you. On the palate it is consistent notes balanced with bright acidity. It is unquestionably a big wine with texture slightly coarser than its big brother Rayas. The texture improves with more air in the glass. It makes up the clarity and purity of Rayas with its own power and weight. …

2007 vintage

Silky, ripe strawberries, some some lean and crunchy acidity. A little bit of green on the finish, but otherwise this is really drinking great right now.

2005 vintage

4th of the evening at TFH. Kirsch & strawberries on the nose. Fresh and vibrant with some ripe red earth, lots of menthol, red berries on the palate. Quite fun to pair with lamb sausage and white beans as well as a whole dorade. Simple yet complex and thought provoking.

2007 vintage

MEA CULPA. So I dissed this recently as being over the hill but it was just the bottle I had. It is really quite fine but definitely drinking now rather thank later. There is good development, taste in tho e mouth , chewy with real interest and depth (brick red at edge). Lovely but drink up.

2005 vintage

Has passed.

2005 vintage

YES. Very good, a lot going on here taste wise . The usuals light red colour that gives way to a constellation of different tastes; more life in this than in the 2004.

2005 vintage

Christmas lunch, barnyard & earth, no trademark strawberries, an off bottle probably, this was too advanced

2005 vintage

Too bad a lot more of the S Rhone doesn't make wine like this. Very impressive classy wine. Even my wife loved it and she even asked if we had more and was disappointed to hear it was a special splurge and its very expensive and our only one. I probably won't ever have another one. I can't even seem to find any to buy if I wanted to. The color of this wine is so amazing. It looks like …

2005 vintage

really lovely right now with the most impressive purity of raspberry aromas and fruit that you can imagine. Medium bodied, a luminous garnet-amber color, and this incredible nose that takes the basic ripe raspberry aromas and then overlays hints of molten white chocolate, espresso, anise. Very long finish...

2005 vintage

Excellent Pignan, pretty nose, classic Pignan/Rayas aromas of strawberries with a savoury touch, long & complex in the mouth, much better than the 2007 drunk before this

2005 vintage

Tasted over two days - certainly better on the second day. Rich, creamy, elegant, very elegant Grenache, sweet and en danseuse - comme l'habitude. Still a young wine. #NewYearsEve#P&S

2005 vintage

Pre Christmas wine dinner, medium red, sweet Grenache nose of roses, berries, lychee, nose of the night, this great 05 Cdp vintage easily equals a good Rayas, liked this with the 95 Poyferre

2005 vintage

Had glass at 67 - Really special for a Rhône wine

2005 vintage

Amazing flavors and still going strong. Beautiful nose , good flavors on the mouth and a long complex finish. Wishing I had more in the cellar

1989 vintage

Pnp, drank it over two days. First day, nose showed pepper, mint, licorice, smoked meat, and roasted herbs, on palate, was a bit more powerful than I originally expected, blackberries, blueberries, it showed good structure but not oaky at all, enjoyable with mouth feel acidity. The second day, both on nose and palate were much cooler than the first day, very elegant, more mineral, various spices were shown, especially cinnamon. Compare to my experience of drinking other Southern Rhône wine, …

2005 vintage

Vinetasters: Rayas (Skokie, IL) : Served double blind in a Rayas lineup. An almost nutty quality on the nose here, with some browned and earthy notes, dried fruit, and a hint of iodine. Sweet and a little weird on the palate here, with lots of tannin showing, and some heat really poking through. Definitely a weaker wine in the context of things, with so much alcoholic heat poking out. Really tannic and heavy-handed; seems like a real outlier. My 10th, …

2005 vintage

To me, more obviously Rhône than the Fonsalettes poured with it. Has power and spice that will make this the best wine in the flight in the long run, but not yet.

2005 vintage

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Pignan, Chateauneuf-du-Pape

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