2005 Chateau La Nerthe Chateauneuf Du Pape Cuvee Des Cadets

(96 points) The Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee des Cadettes was one of the first luxury cuvees of old vines made in Chateauneuf du Pape, the first vintage originating in 1972. There are usually anywhere from 500 to 1000 cases of it. A real stunner, and just being released on the market, is the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee des Cadettes. A magnificent wine with deep ruby/purple color, a wonderfully sweet focus, aromatics of blue and black fruits intermixed with graphite, a hint of charcoal, and some earth and subtle Provencal herbs, the wine is full-bodied and has great depth, richness, power, and stature. There is plenty of tannin to shed, as one might expect from a top 2005, but it is well-integrated, and there is more than enough concentration and fruit to balance out the wine’s structural profile. Give this wine 5 years of bottle age and drink it over the following three decades. This is a monumental example of Chateauneuf du Pape. Manager Alain Dugas, who has done such a superb job at La Nerthe since 1998, told me that they decided not to produce a Cuvee des Cadettes in 2007 because several of their old vine Mourvedre parcels were adversely affected by the year’s drought. Perhaps that is to their benefit, as the single cuvee that will be offered is a superb one. While La Nerthe has always made one of the best white wines of the appellation, it is worth noting that the very tiny production of white Chateauneuf du Pape continues to show encouraging progress almost across the board, as non-malolactic and cold fermentation techniques seem to be producing much more fruit and character in the wines. Wine Advocate #179 Oct 2008