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Pick of the week

Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines 2005, $54.95, No. 043059. A firm, broad-shouldered French red is a perfect candidate for five to 10 years in the cellar. Flavours of plum, cherry and licorice hiding behind a whopping 15.5-per-cent alcohol and astringent tannins.

Seven years ago, I wrote a column under the headline, "Message from Paris: 'Bordeaux is over'." The quotation was not mine. It belonged to Tim Johnston, owner of Juveniles, a wine bar in Paris, and a former partner in the famed Willi's Wine Bar around the corner in the Louvre district.

If anyone ought to be a Bordeaux booster, I figured, it should be Johnston. Scottish-born and, like most of his compatriots, trained to think of Bordeaux as the centre of the wine universe, he even chose to start as a vineyard hand in the sprawling southwestern region.

But along the way he learned to scorn the place, which he felt had become better at cultivating dollars and gullible trophy-label hunters than grapes. For consistent quality and price, he told me, the region can't hold a candle to Australia, Spain and even other regions within France, such as the Rhône Valley.

I was reminded of Johnston's words recently while poring over Wine Spectator magazine's cover story on the top-100 wines of 2007. It reads like a eulogy for Bordeaux - and a triumph for the Rhône.

Bordeaux accounted for a mere three selections: Léoville Las Cases, Pontet-Canet and Pipeau. That's shocking, really, when you consider its expanse - covering 247,000 acres and producing almost 900 million bottles a year - and the fact that much of Wine Spectator's cigar-and-jaguar readership genuflects each morning in the direction of the Gironde estuary.

To be clear, the top-100 list takes into account more than just quality. To make the cut, a wine must also represent value for money, wide availability and an intangible wow factor they simply refer to as "excitement." But before you rush to Bordeaux's defence, here's another interesting statistic: Even in the Spectator's accompanying list of top wines of the year as ranked purely on quality (that is, the 204 wines that scored 95 points or higher), fabled Bordeaux fielded a pathetic six entries.

Meanwhile, of the top 100 "exciting" wines of the year, 10 hail from one of those less-pretentious French regions that Johnston spoke so highly of, the Rhône. And the Rhône, incidentally, is about two-thirds the size of Bordeaux.

More striking, five of those Rhône wines, including the No. 1 choice, come specifically from the appellation of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which measures a mere 8,000 acres near the southeastern corner of the country. That's a district 1/30ththe size of Bordeaux with five exciting wines to Bordeaux's three. Even in the top-204, highest-scorers list, Châteauneuf fielded 20 wines to Bordeaux's dismal half-dozen. (Yes, Châteauneuf has had a string of good years, particularly 2005, but the lopsided numbers speak volumes nonetheless, I think.)

Châteauneuf-du-Pape, named after the 14th-century seat of the papacy in nearby Avignon, produces mainly red wines, the best of which tend to be chunky and rich, with ripe, berry-like fruit and savoury nuances that range from licorice and pepper to mushrooms and lavender. They're heartwarming, serious wines that would make excellent gifts for just about any grape nut.

The No. 1 wine in Wine Spectator's list, Clos des Papes, has long been a personal favourite. I opened a 1.5-litre magnum 11 years ago for my father's 70th birthday and he still raves about it when his birthday comes around. Alas, I couldn't find a listing for it in any province at the moment.

The second Châteauneuf in Wine Spectator's list, Vieux Donjon Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2005 (ranked No. 3, whose previous vintage I recommended precisely a year ago), is currently available in tiny quantities (19 bottles at press time) in British Columbia ($57.95, No. 302216). The 150 cases brought into Ontario recently sold out almost instantly, probably hoarded by a few keeners with big SUVs. For the record, the others on the magazine's list are Domaine du Pégau Cuvée Réservée 2004 (No. 12), Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe La Crau 2004 (No. 20) and Clos du Mont Olivet 2005 (No. 32). They're basically impossible to find in Canada.

Ontarians can consider two other Châteauneufs that were released last week. The better one is Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines 2005 ($54.95, No. 043059). Warning: It's not for the squeamish. The big tannins in this 15.5-per-cent-alcohol beast are masking the fruit and it really could use seven to nine years to open up. At the moment, the flavour is, as the tasting note in the Vintages catalogue astutely points out, reminiscent of creosote. For what it's worth, I didn't much care for its baby brother, also released last week, Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004, which to me seemed flat and slightly oxidized. (Not all Châteauneufs are great, by any means.) Perhaps the flaws were confined to the bottle I tasted.

On the value side, there's the decent Domaine de la Solitude Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2004, also from a great vintage ($35.95, No. 984419), ripe and silky, with a funky whiff of barnyard on the nose. It's a good candidate for current drinking.

Another message that might be extrapolated from Wine Spectator's list is the growing excitement of the grape varieties underpinning Rhône Valley blends. While red Bordeaux are typically dominated by cabernet sauvignon and merlot, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, as many readers know, is a blend of up to 13 varieties, though most producers rely heavily or exclusively on just three, grenache, syrah and mourvèdre. Grenache delivers up-front, raspberry fruitiness, syrah a dark-fruit, licorice-like flavour and mourvèdre a tannic backbone as well as a spicy-gamey quality.

Curiously, when Johnston and I had our chat at Juveniles in Paris about the decline of Bordeaux, we shared a bottle that I had asked him to choose from his wine-bar list. His pick: Nine Popes, a big Australian blend of grenache, syrah and mourvèdre from Charles Melton. The wine's name, coincidentally, is an homage to Châteauneuf-du-Pape in the form of a malapropism. Châteauneuf literally means "newhouse," but "neuf" can also mean "nine."

Other Australian producers are making compelling blends from those grapes, and another classic is Rosemount GSM 2003. It is available in British Columbia ($34.99, No. 704750), in Ontario through Vintages ($34.95, No. 583146), in Quebec ($35, No. 583146) and in Newfoundland ($36.25, No. 3225) among other provinces. It would make a splendid gift for the holidays. The 2003 is concentrated and bursting with blueberry and licorice, with a velvety, chewy texture that finishes with a firm, tight tannic grip. Accessible now, it could easily age nicely for up to a decade.

Syrah is of course a great solo performer too. Coincidentally, Canada's own domestic red wine of the year as chosen by Wine Access magazine, was a syrah. For its top honour, the magazine's august tasting panel chose CedarCreek Estate Select Syrah 2005 ($35.09). The wine, sourced from a vineyard in Osoyoos in the south Okanagan Valley of British Columbia, was honoured for its "deep fruit, complexity, seamless richness and elegance." Readers in British Columbia can take advantage of the last remaining cases available through the winery store at http://www.cedarcreek.bc.ca (1-800-730-9463) or at a handful of VQA wine stores. Incidentally, CedarCreek also makes superb pinot noirs and Bordeaux-style red blends based on cabernet sauvignon and merlot. For other medal winners in the Wine Access comprehensive competition as well as for subscription details to the magazine, visit http://www.wineaccess.ca.

Because of incorrect information on the LCBO website, I reported last week that Codorniu Brut Clasico sparkling wine from Spain was being discontinued. It's not, and is very much alive in more than 150 stores, where it merely changed product numbers. The value-priced dry bubbly sells for $12.15 (product No. 6262).

bcrosariol@globeandmail.com