Great Southern Distillery

Château de Beaucastel

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhône Blend 1988

Super clean and still quite youthful, this is a GREAT example of a 1980s CdP from a vintage of little surmaturite, so awesome balance and perfect acidity suggests this vintage will easily last another 5-10 years!! — 3 days ago

Jim Powers
with Jim
Scott@Mister, Tom and 5 others liked this
Tom Casagrande

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What a triumvirate of CDPs!
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

@Tom Casagrande, another example of a great bottle outperforming critical reviews — of the 3 CdPs, the ratings given years ago would have been higher for the ‘89 Beau and ‘90 Pegau!!

Clos Saint Jean

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2017

Vintage 2017 | great structure, spicyness and cherries in smell, velvet taste (after aeration) | paired with a tournedos at bistrot C — 6 months ago

Dave, Tom and 24 others liked this
Jan A

Jan A

Nice!
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

Sounds great!!
"Odedi"

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Delicious

Château de Beaucastel

Vieilles Vignes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Roussanne 2007

Dayum… this is good.
Intense and fresh, quite Burgundian. No signs of oxidation, this is all about luscious tropical fruit, soft spices, warm pastry, vanilla, smoky minerality.
In a great spot now and an impressive showing!
— 8 months ago

Ira, Lisanne and 10 others liked this

E. Guigal

Côtes du Rhône White Rhone Blend

Really enjoyed. Great value — 3 months ago

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe

La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend

Marc S
9.4

Smooth pleasant full tasting CNdP. Granberries, cocoa and ripe strawberries intertwined with almond bitter at the end; great wine! — 5 months ago

Remco liked this

Frankland Estate

Isolation Ridge Vineyard Riesling 2014

Notes of mandarin on both nose and palate. Not a skerrick of TDN - clean and pure. Almost off dry in the light to medium bodied palate with peachy notes developing. Tastes a lot younger than 11 years. One of the most isolated vineyards in the remote terroir of Frankland River. The wine is aptly named as “Isolation Ridge”. — 6 months ago

Ira, Somm and 20 others liked this
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

Love Frankland Estate, it was consistently imported to the U.S. back in the 1990s, then disappeared. We visited in late 2023, and found out the generation now running it had some connection to UC Davis (we live on the outskirts of Davis), but it’s still a tough find here in Northern California. But DEFINITELY remote!!

Château de Trinquevedel

Tavel Grenache Rosé 2020

I tend to be rather picky about rosé, but I always love those from the Tavel area. This one is consistently satisfying. Glorious salmon-pink color and fresh, juicy flavors of strawberry and watermelon. Great with our Niçoise salad! 60% Grenache, 13% Clairette, 13% Syrah, 10% Cinsault, 3% Mourvèdre, 1% Bourboulenc. 5/15/22. — 4 years ago

Domaine Bois de Boursan

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2024

First white chateauneuf du pape I’ve had and it did not dissapoint. Another great Bar Bucce selection. Strong notes of lemon and pear, finishing taste of honey. Delicious. — 4 months ago

La Vieille Ferme (Perrin & Fils)

La Vieille Ferme Rosé Blend 2024

Pale salmon color. Aromas of cherry, strawberries and rose petals. Bright red fruit on the palate and a hint of minerals- great value! — 6 months ago

Ed, Doug and 7 others liked this
Doug Powers

Doug Powers

@Neil Valenzuela, I love La Vielle Ferme wines, been drinking them since the early 1980s when they were $2.99/4.99. Hard to drink 1st growth Bordeaux 5-6 nights per week like @Dave, which I realize saying it out loud sounds like pure jealousy on my part!! 🤔🤷
Neil Valenzuela

Neil Valenzuela

Gotta have variety! Cheers @Doug Powers !

Château Rayas

Réservé Châteauneuf-du-Pape Grenache Blend 2005

2005 vintage. Decanted and tasted immediately and over the course of 4 hours. Medium body with a continually morphing nose. Super-impressive bouquet throughout the night. Overt fruit fallen off the framework and replaced with secondary attributes/complexities. @Bill Bender remarked twice about a lack of “heat”since the usual CDP ABV range seemed underwhelming One might think that would present issues but, rest assured, it did not. Great wine possibly at its’ zenith/top of the bell curve and living its’ best life now. Backed up the hype and then some. Tied for WOTN along with the 2006 Krug Clos du Mesnil Champagne (missed a picture for that one) for both myself and @Shay A 09.21.25. — 8 months ago

Shay ABill Bender
with Shay and Bill
Scott@Mister, Shay and 25 others liked this
Jay Kline

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🙌
Scott@Mister A’s-San Diego

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Effing banging. Thank you @Bill Bender !!
Shay A

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My first Rayas! So grateful to @Bill Bender for the experience (as well as the other wines) to finally check this off the list. I’d say that between the five wines of the evening, this and the ‘06 Krug CdM evolved the most. This is the most powerful and aromatic CdP I’ve ever had. The red/black cran-raspberry profile was like a missle on the palate…so youthful, even tangy the beginning. A lot of CdPs have this dirty/figgy profile but this was so clean and pure. Verve for days. Probably still rocking in another 5+ before evolving to the next stage. Epic.
9.7