The 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Marie Beurrier, from a troublesome and challenging vintage for Henri Bonneau, is a lightweight, medium-bodied effort displaying attractive fig, underbrush and loamy soil notes and a moderate finish. It’s a competent but hardly inspiring wine from the inimitable Monsieur Bonneau.Henri Bonneau, who is now 70 years of age, continues to make Chateauneuf du Pape the way it was made 50-100 years ago ... long cask aging in old barrels and bottling it, as he says jokingly, “when I need money.” A visit to these cellars is always one of my most rewarding of the year. The barrels and foudres that will probably be used in the Cuvee Marie Beurrier all have the letter “G” on them and everything with Reserve des Celestins potential has the letter “P” on it. Bonneau went through a litany of the issues that confronted the 2009 vintage, particularly the drought that affected much of the Grenache planted in many of Chateauneuf du Pape’s terroirs, and he reminded me that he had predicted it would be a problem when I saw him last year. Bonneau continues to claim the 2007s are too showy and flamboyant to ever develop into a great, long-lived vintage.Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173

In 2003, there will only be a Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Marie Beurrier. This cuvee has gotten better year by year. It was overly dry, hard, and austere in its youth, but it has filled out nicely, and his incredibly long elevage in old small barrels appears to have concentrated the wines in a way that only Bonneau can achieve, and neither Bonneau nor any modern oenologist can offer an idea as to why these wines turn out so remarkably given the cellar conditions. There are so many unidentified mushroom-like growths sprouting from the walls and, occasionally, on the outside of the barrels. Thank God for such mysteries!Henri Bonneau recently celebrated his 50th vintage of Chateauneuf du Pape, and no one can argue that he is the appellation’s greatest guardian of traditional winemaking. How does one describe an Henri Bonneau Chateauneuf du Pape? Perhaps the best description is that it represents a liquified charcoal-grilled steak heavily crusted on the outside, blood red on the inside, sprinkled with Provencal herbs, and doused in black pepper. Bonneau does not decide on what will go into his first wine, the Reserve des Celestins, or the second wine, Cuvee Marie Beurrier, until a year before the wines are bottled.. As I have indicated, all of the wines listed above are “potential” cuvees, with the exception of the 2003 Marie Beurrier. (No 2003 Reserve de Celestins was produced.) Tasting through the 2007s, Henri Bonneau’s first comments were, “it tastes too good too soon.” He said the same thing about the 2000s, and I argued with him, largely in vain, about that vintage’s greatness.Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173