Now that my wife has given birth, Champagne Sunday is back in full force. 'Pape Bobo' and 'Mama Meme' brought dinner by Chez Bobo and we warmed things up with a bottle of Bruno Paillard, Champagne, "Premiere Cuvee", NV (45% Pinot Noir,/33% Chardonnay/22% Pinot Meunier). The wine had a nice straw color and was very elegant and creamy in the mouth. The Premiere Cuvee represents 60% of the house production and is a blend of grapes from 30 different villages. Bruno Paillard started as a broker in Champagne and founded his own house in 1981 at the age of 27.A pile of ribs appeared and I cracked open a Domaine Mourre du Tendre, Chateauneuf du Pape, 2000 (80% Grenache/15% Mouvedre/5% Syrah). I wanted to love this wine, but I found it a little rough on this night. Mourre du Tendre is a producer in the Henri Bonneau mold (meaning very traditional). The grapes for this wine come from 80-105 year old vines in a tiny 5-acre plot, the majority of which is situated in the famed La Crau vineyard. The wine was dark in color, and the nose revealed alcohol mixed with red cherries. The same flavors showed through on the palate. This wine saw extended aging in old barrels, but despite this oxidative style of winemaking it seemed young. I think that we probably caught this wine at an awkward stage.
For comparison sake, I pulled out a Domaine Pegau, Chateauneuf du Pape, 2000. The color was even deeper then the Mourre du Tendre (black) . While closed on the nose, the wine was rich and full of black cherry fruit on the palate. Still very young, this wine showed great potential and was also really beautifully textured. Give this wine 5-10 more years in the bottle and it should be great.
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