Rhône Theme
Timed Online Auction, 2 - 12 February 2024
Rhône | International & South African offering
About the SessionThe first sale of the 2024 Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auction calendar is an exciting Rhône valley and Rhône-style offering and has fast-become one of the most popular at Strauss & Co Fine Wine Auctions.
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About this Item
Founded in 1900 by Edmund Tacussel, Clos Saint-Jean – which is one of the oldest domaines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône – is run today by his great-great-grandsons, Vincent and Pascal Maurel. This 41-hectare estate is considered by wine critics as one of the appellation’s leading domaines to be backing the more modern style of winemaking. ‘This may well be one of the most exciting addresses not only in France, but in the entire wine world,’ wrote Robert Parker of The Wine Advocate, ‘in short, these wines are not to be missed!’
Provenance
Private Client
Critics Ratings
‘A bigger, richer, more masculine style than the la Combe des Fous, the powerhouse styled 2007 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina is an insanely good wine that has a huge nose of roasted meats, crushed rocks, graphite, spice and black currants. It has a serious amount of tannin, but they’re still covered by a wealth of fruit, and it’s impeccably balanced and doesn’t have a hard edge anywhere. It’s killer stuff today, but like the Combe des Fous, it has an additional 10-15 years of prime drinking and will keep even longer.’ - Jeb Dunnuck, Wine Advocate, 100/100 (Feb 2017)
‘This offers the heady, opulent fig, crushed plum and boysenberry fruit of the vintage, but allies it to a racy graphite and incense-infused structure. Super long, with black tea, warm fig reduction, chocolate and roasted apple wood notes that really stretch out the finish. Great underlying acidity holds it all together. Very impressive. Best from 2010 through 2030.’ - James Molesworth, Wine Spectator, 96/100 (Nov 2009)
‘Glass-staining ruby. The nose offers a drop-dead sexy array of berry, floral and mineral scents, along with nuances of spicecake and black olive. Impressively deep and sweet but also energetic, displaying dense red and dark fruit liqueur flavors and sexy floral pastille and baking spice qualities. The mineral quality comes on strong with air and lends lift and urgency to the very long, spicy finish. This is slightly more elegant than the Comte des Fous but just as potent.’ – Josh Raynolds, Vinous, 96/100 (Jan 2010)