Cuvee du Vatican Reserve Sixtine - $64.99

Wine Details

Vintage: 2007
Price: $64.99
Producer: Cuvee du Vatican
Region: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Varietal: Rhone Blend - Red
Container Size: 750 ML
Flavors: cola, lavender, oak
  • Award Winning
  • Red Wine
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Expert Ratings

Ratings   Vintage Source Flavors
Tanzer - 90 Details: Yellow-gold. Reticent citrus and mineral aromas open to offer fresh tangerine and smoky pear qualities. Brisk and clean, with deep, focused citrus and pear flavors underscored by zesty minerality. Finishes clean, with refreshing snap and excellent length. This offers impressive balance. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2006 Tanzer cola, lavender, oak
Tanzer - 92(+?) Details: ($59) Ruby-red. Cherry-vanilla, cassis and mocha aromas are sharpened by dusty minerality and fresh rose. Velvety red fruit flavors display excellent depth, picking up bitter cherry and dark chocolate on the finish. Shuts down with air, suggesting that this will need some cellar time. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2005 Tanzer herbs, kirsch, oak, raspberry, red berry, spice
Tanzer - 90 Details: Yellow-gold. Reticent citrus and mineral aromas open to offer fresh tangerine and smoky pear qualities. Brisk and clean, with deep, focused citrus and pear flavors underscored by zesty minerality. Finishes clean, with refreshing snap and excellent length. This offers impressive balance. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2006 Tanzer cola, lavender, oak
Tanzer - 92(+?) Details: ($59) Ruby-red. Cherry-vanilla, cassis and mocha aromas are sharpened by dusty minerality and fresh rose. Velvety red fruit flavors display excellent depth, picking up bitter cherry and dark chocolate on the finish. Shuts down with air, suggesting that this will need some cellar time. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2005 Tanzer herbs, kirsch, oak, raspberry, red berry, spice
Tanzer - 91 Details: ($49) Dark red. Cherry, wild strawberry, licorice and lavender on the nose. Energetic red fruit flavors show excellent depth and sweetness and are nicely supported by fine, dusty tannins. The lively, precise finish features a lingering spiced berry quality and striking persistence. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2004 Tanzer candied, cherry, lavender, licorice, minerals, pepper, red berry, red plum, spicy
Tanzer - 91 Details: ($49) Dark red. Cherry, wild strawberry, licorice and lavender on the nose. Energetic red fruit flavors show excellent depth and sweetness and are nicely supported by fine, dusty tannins. The lively, precise finish features a lingering spiced berry quality and striking persistence. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2004 Tanzer candied, cherry, lavender, licorice, minerals, pepper, red berry, red plum, spicy
Tanzer - 92 Details: ($52) Ruby red. Explosively aromatic nose of dark cherry, red licorice, plum confiture and smoked meat. Lush and dense, with very ripe berry flavors, along with notes of licorice candy, balsamico, beef jerky and espresso. The flavors build and expand through the finish. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2003 Tanzer beef, berry, cherry, espresso, licorice, meat, plum
WineSpectator - 90 Details: Elegant and refined, balancing some spicy oak, tar, toasted bread and grilled meat with some ripe and sweet fruit. Full-bodied, it coats the palate, delivering lots of firm but opulent tannins. Best from 2006 through 2015. 1,885 cases made. –PM 2001 WineSpectator meat, oak, spicy, tar, toasted bread
Tanzer - 91 Details: ($45; a blend of 40% grenache, 30% syrah and 30% mourvedre) Bright ruby-red. Blackberry, bitter chocolate, violet, mint and spicy oak on the nose; intriguing suggestions of mourvedre. At once dense and penetrating, with rather oaky flavors of blackberry, violet and eucalyptus. Finishes with a hint of leather, but also a slight dryness from the wood element. (Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ) 2001 Tanzer bitter, blackberry, chocolate, eucalyptus, leather, mint, oak, spicy, violet
Tanzer - 88-91? Details: ($45; a blend of 40% grenache, 30% syrah and 30% mourvedre) Saturated ruby-red. Aromas of black fruits and oaky torrefaction. Lush but juicy and penetrating; still tightly wound and a bit medicinal, with a strong bitter chocolate quality from the oak. This has excellent material, but I have the same question about the wine's balance that I did with the 2000 and 1999 at the same stage: will the wine's oak element overwhelm its fruit? Today there's a slightly bitter note of torrefaction on the back end. 2001 Tanzer bitter, chocolate, medicinal, oak
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Food Pairings

Category Pairing
Cheese Mozzarella, Sharp Cheddar, Feta, Parmesan, Brie, Soft Pungent Cheese
Red Meat Goulash, Grilled Beef, Hamburgers, Beef Stew, Barbeque Pulled-Pork or Ribs, Pork Chops, Lamb, Lamb Shish Kabobs, Goulash, Game, Rabbit, Farmed Venison, Wild Game - Elk, Caribou, Moose, Venison, Grilled Sausage, Casseroles / Hot Dish
Poultry & Eggs Coq Au Vin, Roast Chicken with Herbs, Roast Turkey, Duck Confit, Glazed Duck, Game Birds, Pheasant
Vegetables Lentils, Mushrooms, Olives, Black, Ratatouille
Fish or Shellfish Tuna, Mahi-Mahi
Sauces Tomato Sauce, Red Wine Sauce
Herbs & Spices Bay Leaf, Juniper, Lavender, Mint, Rosemary, Thyme

Awards and Accolades

  Name Vintage
Award Winner Bronze - 2007 Decanter World Wine Awards 2006

Wine Terms

Name Value
Châteauneuf-du-Pape (shah toe nuf doo pahp)—Situated on the sun-baked southern reaches of the Rhone Valley, this appellation grows a great number of grape varieties, but is best known for its full-bodied dry reds. As many as thirteen different kinds of grape can end up in one bottle, although most vintners use only three or four, especially Syrah, Mourvédre, and Grenache.
France France is the standard bearer for all the world’s wines, with regard to the types of grapes that are used to make wine and with the system of defining and regulating winemaking. Its Appellation d’Origine Controlee, or AOC system, is the legislative model for most other European countries. Most French wines are named after places. The system is hierarchical; generally the smaller and more specific the region for which a wine is named, the higher its rank. There are four possible ranks of French wine, and each is always stated on the label: Appellation Contrôlée (or AOC), Vin Délimité de Qualité Supérieure (or VDQS); Vin de pays, or country wine; and Vin de table. France has five major wine regions, although there are several others that make interesting wines. The three major regions for red wine are Bordeaux, Burgundy, and the Rhone; for white wines, the regions are Burgundy, the Loire and Alsace. Each region specialized in certain grape varieties for its wines, based on climate, soil, and local tradition. Two other significant French wine regions are Provence and Languedoc-Roussillon, both in the south of France. Cahors, in the southwest of the country, produces increasingly good wines.
Rhône Valley Located in southeastern France, between the city of Lyon and the region of Provence, this area’s sunny and hot growing season is reflected in its full-bodied wines. In the southern Rhone, the Grenache grape makes wines that are high in alcohol and low in tannin. The most famous wine from the southern Rhone is Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This blended red wine can contain as many as thirteen grape varieties, but most often includes Grenache, Mourvèdre, and Syrah. It is full-bodied, rich and ripe. In the northern Rhone, most wines are made from the Syrah grape and are rich and full-bodied. Two of the best are Côte Rôtie, which is soft, fruity, and can carry the flavors of green olives and raspberries, and Red Hermitage, which is a complex, tannic wine that should develop for several years, and can be aged for thirty years or more.

Tasting Notes

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