- 96 Points Jeb Dunnuck (2016 Vintage)
- 95-97 points Wine Advocate (2015 Vintage)
- One of the Greatest CDPs I've Ever Tasted
- Better than Rayas
- The Best Pure Grenache Made in All of the Rhone
- Nose: Stunning Complexity - Mineral, Raspberry Coulis, Spice
- Palate: Fruit and Freshness are Once in a Generation Type Stuff
- Deep, Palate Staining Fruit
- Astonishing Balance
- Amazing Sweetness, Structure and Tannins
- Mind-Boggling Inner Mouth Perfume
- VERY Limited and Allocated - 50 Cases Made
- Only George's Best Customers Get This
Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?
But there are still a small number of excellent wines made in CDP and none better than todays offer. I
have a small allocation but anyone who wants to time travel a bit and enjoy the great CDP of yesteryear should give this offer a read.
have a small allocation but anyone who wants to time travel a bit and enjoy the great CDP of yesteryear should give this offer a read.
The Greek
We all know the Greek, who runs the top wine store in the Rhone and who has been the first retailer to sell pretty much every top winery in the region. We call him the King of the Rhone. He knows all of the best plots in the entire region and makes a series of stunning wines. This CDP is his magnum opus form the South.
The Wine
This is perhaps the hardest to get and I'm thrilled to sell the 2018 Compagnie L'Hermitage Chateauneuf-du-Pape "lieu dit Pignan" for as little as $89.99 a bottle on a 3-pack. This is 100% old vine Grenache (80-100 years) and is one of the greatest Chateauneuf-du-Papes I have ever tasted. In 2018, George says it is better than Rayas and the best pure Grenache made in all of the Rhone in 2017 Joe Czerwinski (WA) gave the 2015 95-97 points and Jeb Dunnuck gave the 2016 96 pts. It is such a deep, stoney and extraordinarily complex wine. My favorite CDP year in and year out. No 2017 or 2018 ratings likely due to the pandemic.
Nose is just gorgeous herbs. So complex and so detailed. A gorgeous plum and berry fruit. So intense yet refined and delicate. Heavenly nose. 9.8. Just stunning. The nose is pungent and aromatic with a raspberry coulis, complex spice and so much stoney minerality. Really a wine that you can sit wit
h over hours and just watch (smell) it evolve). Wow - what a nose. Truly epic and wild yet refined at the same time.
On the palate, the fruit and freshness are once in a generation type stuff. Deep, palate staining fruit and astonishing balance. It goes on for minutes and after proper aeration a perfume like you cannot believe develops. There is also mind-boggling inner mouth perfume. Darker fruits than more red. Palate is juicy, complex and so, so, so stoney. And this wine is so stoney, which I will repeat often. I can only imagine the source of the vineyard and grapes given the name of the wine. Amazing sweetness, structure and tannins. Long. Elegant. Wonderful.This is a CDP in a pure style with astonishing depth and layers of fruit allpresented on slabs of rock.
For my money, this is as good as many of the more high priced deluxe cuvees out there and the 2015 got 95-97 pts from Joe Czerwinski (WA) and 2016 got 96 points from Jeb Dunnuck and he said it was amongst the top CDPs of the vintage. The 2018 is MUCH better if that can be believed. No rating likely due to the pandemic but I think it will always be one of the best CDP's of the vintage. No matter what year.
This is very limited as only 600 bottles were made in 2018. This is only made in vintages that have perfect conditions. There was none made in 2013/2014 and 2012 was sold out before I opened Fass Selections. I am VERY lucky to get an allocation of this wine and this is the third time I am offering this insanely rare cuvee. This will be allocated so put in your top amount and I try and abide.
"A shockingly good wine from the Southern Rhône, the 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Lieu Dit Pignan is a huge, sexy and incredibly pure wine that's loaded with classic Pignan aromas and flavors of wild strawberries, black cherries, exotic spring flowers and white pepper. This full-bodied Châteauneuf du Pape has a stacked mid-palate, polished tannin, no hard edges and a great finish. Count me impressed . . . ." - 95-97 points Joe Czerwinski Wine Advocate (2015)
"From one of the standout terroirs in the appellation, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Lieu-dit Pignan from George Lelektsoglou sports a ruby color as well as a smoking good nose of black raspberries, crushed flowers, orange zest, incense, and exotic spices. Deep, incredibly silky, and full-bodied on the palate, it just glides across that palate, and while it's a rich, powerful wine, it shows the purity, balance, and elegance that's the hallmark of this great vintage. This beautiful Grenache will benefit from short-term cellaring (it's far from unapproachable today) and drink nicely for 10-15 years." - 96 Points Jeb Dunnuck 2016
One of the things George is the most proud of and is also the most secretive about are his sources for his cuvees that fall under the name Compagnie l'Hermitage, which is the name of his store. He knows everyone and anyone in the Rhone and has only the best sources for his vineyards and fruit for cuvees he puts his name or his store's name on. He's been tasting the best wines from the region every year for decades and knows exactly where to get the absolutely best fruit. He also picks incredibly talented winemakers to partner with to make the wines.
These wines are all undeniably great and some of the best examples of their appellations. And this is his side project. The guy is amazing! They are thrilling wines. George is an uncompromising guy and he oversees all the vineyards and winemaking decisions. It shows as these are some of the greatest wines I sell and they are also amongst the rarest. I tasted the whole batch when I was there and they all, as expected, blew me away.
2018 Compagnie de L'Hermitage (Lelektsoglou) Chateauneuf du Pape
"Lieu dit le Pignan" - $91.99 ($269.97 3-Pack)
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