WTN: 2000 La Roque Cupa N., 2001 Soquel cabernet

[OW Holmes]

2000 Ch. La Roque Cupa Numismae. Stored in 60 degree controlled cellar. Still very primary. Opened with boisenberry and leather and developed old leather, cocoa and black fruit after an hour. Very nice, but still a bit rustic, with integrating tannins not fully there yet. All the stuffings to be a fabulous wine, and I am sorry I opened it a couple of years early.

Soquel Cabernet Sauvignon 2001. I bought this at the suggestion of my local merchant who apparently got a deal on it. He said it was good because the tannins were resolving and it was just entering the prime drinking window. The label says that Soquel is a botique vineyard in the santa cruz mountains that emphasizes balance. The wine says it could have been bottled in a Ridge Monte Bello bottle and sold for 70 bucks (instead of 16), and no one would have known. This was just beautiful, clean, pure mountain cab fruit, medium bodied, fully in balance. Not the kind of wine I usually like, since it had none of that dirty stuff, but I did. I went back for five more bottles, the last he had.

Of the two, at least right now, I'd take the Soquel.

[Bill Hooper]

I too am a big fan of Pic St. Loup. It's really one of the best kept secrets in France. The last vintage of Cupa Numismae I've tasted was '01 (and that was a few years ago). It is a remarkable wine, especially next to La Roques regular bottlings (I'm not a big fan of the Mourvedre VV -a little too soft and juicy, but I really like the Coteaux de Languedoc blanc and some vintages of Pic St. Loup rouge). That it is still showing it's youth is encouraging. Thanks for the notes.


Prost!
Bill

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Another Pic St Loup fan here, anyone have bottle variation problems? I think Bill from Boston might have a year back....Hello Bill !!!!
I would buy more from this area but cellar full and I am just not drinking fast enough!!

[Bill Hooper]

I would buy more from this area but cellar full and I am just not drinking fast enough!!

Bob,

If the 2005 is anything like the 2000, you won't have to drink it for a decade. Surely you can catch up by then...


Prost!
Bill

[James Roscoe]

Where is Pic St. Loup? Are these red wines? What grapes?

I assume we are talking SW France so it could be anything. Let's have a litle enlightenment and what producers do we look for? If I don't ask, I'll never know!

[Bill Hooper]

James,
Pic St. Loup isn't in the South-West, but in the Languedoc outside of Montpellier. Rhone grapes aplenty down there, but most reds are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and/or Carignan. The La Roque 'regular' is GSM, but I think the Cupa Numismae is Syrah and Mourvedre. IMO la Roque is the best producer (And the easiest to get in the US being KL), but there are a number of others.


Prost!
Bill

[James Roscoe]

Bill,
Thanks for the tip. I actually meant to say Languedoc and my brain moved over to Aquitaine. I'm fighting the Hundred Year's War in one of my history classes. I kind of guessed it would be a GSM, but outside of the big appellations there are all kinds of crazy things going on, especially as you head towards the Pyrennes. I will keep an eye out for this wine. It sounds like a qpr winner.
Prost!
James

[OW Holmes]

It is a remarkable wine, especially next to La Roques regular bottlings (I'm not a big fan of the Mourvedre VV -a little too soft and juicy
Prost!
Bill

Bill, I like them all. The '99 regular bottling was one of my favorites a couple of years ago, and I have enjoyed a couple of vintages of the Mourvedre. A quality producer, IMHO. And a bargain, generally speaking. But unfortunately increasingly hard to find in my market. My retailer hasn't carried either the La Roque or St. Martin for the last few years, and when I asked him why he said it was because the exchange rate put these wines in a different price range. Too bad.

[Mark Lipton]

James,
Pic St. Loup isn't in the South-West, but in the Languedoc outside of Montpellier. Rhone grapes aplenty down there, but most reds are Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault and/or Carignan. The La Roque 'regular' is GSM, but I think the Cupa Numismae is Syrah and Mourvedre. IMO la Roque is the best producer (And the easiest to get in the US being KL), but there are a number of others.

It's always hard for me to say that any one producer is the best in a region (with a few notable exceptions), but La Roque is certainly close to the top, along with Mortiés and Lascaux (another KL import). Of the various caves cooperatives in the area, "Vignerons du Pic" IMO offers the best QPR, though in terms of quality it can't compete with the top estates.

Mark Lipton

[Redwinger]

OW,
Thanks for the update on the La Roque. I'll let mine slumber for a few years..maybe 2010.
Bill

[OW Holmes]

Bill, good idea. I'll do the same with my one remaining '00.

[Bob Parsons Alberta]

Good thread eh and so full of interest! Here is some more from Jamie Goode.......!

http://www.wineanorak.com/picstloup.htm

[James Roscoe]

Good thread eh and so full of interest! Here is some more from Jamie Goode.......!

http://www.wineanorak.com/picstloup.htm

Bob, or Bill, I assume then, from looking at the link that Pic St. Loup is akin to one of the villages in the southern Rhone? Is that a fair equation?