Domaine Bois de Boursan Châteauneuf-du-Pape Red Rhone Blend 2007

Will Stanley

Enjoyed while a bit run down with some sort of cold (not Covid, not yet..!), but that didn’t prevent this knockout old-school Châteauneuf-du-Pape from leaving a lasting impression of perfectly mature southern Rhône on my palate. A deep ruby hue with some bricking at the ages give an already youthful appearance to this 15 year-old wine. On opening, the nose had a lot of brett which tamed after an hour in the decanter, revealing savoury scents of dry cherry, game, charred wood and leather along with the faintest sweet hint of cherry liqueur, which for the discerning blind taster would place the wine in this AOC. On the palate, the immediate sensation is the tannins - wow! - which are fine grained but by no means mellow, providing great power to the wine’s gamey body. Plum, cherry, vanilla and orange bitters are the dominant flavours here, with a woodsy finish showing reasonable length. A one-off bottle for me, this is showing very well now and could be fun to try with a little more age still. But the great appeal of this wine was its interest value as a CNDP from a top drawer vintage holding up super well after 15 years.

Brash Higgins

Superb traditional style, all the earth and sweetness still on full display, really lovely, just a touch of heat, but all is forgiven

Eliot Fagley

This continues to be one of my 2 desert island wines.