1978 Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rhône France Wine Tasting Note
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1978
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe La Crau (Châteauneuf-du-Pape)
Compelling and eternally youthful, at close to 40, this certainly competes with any Southern Rhone for the wine of the vintage. The nose grabs you with its sweet, deep, red fruits, black pepper and garrigue. Full bodied, wild and long, the finish sticks with you, with its layers of ripe, peppery, dark red berries. 3,678 Views Tasted Nov 13, 2017Filled with fresh cracked pepper, gariggue, kirsch, herbes, fennel and black raspberries with a melange of spice, this rich, full bodied, charmingly, rustic, spice filled wine ends with a long, fresh, powerful, pure, cherry liqueur finish. This fully mature Chateauneuf du Pape remains a sublime tasting experience for lovers of old Chateauneuf du Pape. Believe it or not, this has at least another decade of life to look forward to. This is best vintage of Vieux Telegraph I’ve ever tasted! It's almost impossible to fathom how young this wine was showing after more than 3 decades of aging. 5,192 Views Tasted Sep 27, 2011From the color, aromatics and taste, I would have thought this wine was at least 10 years younger. The perfume blended garrigue with dark cherries, pepper and earth. The finish was long, clean and pure. While the wine did not improve with air, it remained at the same level for 2 hours. This might be one of the best 78 Chateauneuf du Papes available today. 3,637 Views Tasted Aug 6, 2007Birckish ruby color. Notes of spice, cinnamon, pepper, jammy blackberries, cherries, raspberries and herbs. Full bodied, silky entry. Very Burgundian in style. Soft, elegant plummy fruit on the palate. Continued improving in the glass. Wow, what a treat! Steve Levin purchased this on release for $6.00 3,464 Views Tasted Aug 4, 2004 |
When to Drink Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time
Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe is a wine that shows truly better wine age. Young vintages can be decanted for about 1-3 hours, give or take. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.
Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe is usually better with 4-6 years of bottle age. Of course, that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage. In the best vintages, the wine should be consumed within 8-25 years after the vintage.
Serving Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe with Wine, Food Pairing Tips
Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.
Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, stewed dishes, sausage, barbecue and cassoulet. Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe is also good with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms pasta, eggplant, tomatoes and cheese.
The white wine of Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe is best served with a myriad of different seafood dishes, shellfish, crab, lobster, sushi, sashimi, chicken, pork, and veal, as well as Asian cuisine.
The Brunier family also owns another vineyard in the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation, La Roquete, which produces "Piedlong". In addition, Domaine Vieux Telegraphe has vines in the Gigondas appellation where they own Domaine Les Pallieres in a partnership with Kermit Lynch, the well-known American importer.
Les Pallieres makes 2 wines, Les Racines, which comes from their oldest vines, and Terraces de Diable, which is produced from vines located on the limestone terraces in the appellation.
Their Le Vieux Telegraphe Pigeoulet de Brunier is a Vin de Pays that comes from unclassified vines in the Vaucluse appellation and is made with both red wine grapes and white wine grape varieties. In the Cotes du Ventoux they produce Vieux Telegraphe Megaphone.
The industrious Brunier family also makes wine in the Bekaa Valley of Lebanon with Massaya.