Clos de l'Oratoire du Pape

Around that time I bid on and won a 1947 CDP from Chicago Wine Auction. It was bottled for the Packard Departments stores in Detroit---there wasn't much information on who did the bottling just a few worst like " bottled for over its peak but gently so. I've had Beaucastel a few times in Magnums with great pleasure. CDP & Gigondas are very food friendly and priced except the top of the line producers. Unless I know the cuvee, I'm less sure of Cotes du Rhone. In this day when everyday drinking, modestly priced wines are no longer available from Bordeaux, Northern Italy, California---Oz has captured that niche, wines from Southern Rhone need to be promoted better; The introduction of wines from Provence and other formerly obscure AOCs have taken attention away from the Southern Rhone.

Note: For those in the Boston area, Marty's sells the Chateau Simian Cotes du Rhone. Initially I placed 28 cases there. When it was time for reorder, Marty's told me they made other arrangements the French broker I dealt with. Marty's saved about $2 a case, cutting me out of any role in the process. So I asked the winery to take off "A Winemayven Selection" from the back label & told the broker I expected stores to try to get the best price from suppliers. Indeed I had cut my commission rate in half for Marty's. But I thought we were doing business in the Rhone and to the south but he sacrificed that to keep the connection with Marty's. I guess my displeasure was enhanced by the bankruptcy of a wholesaler in Atlanta. When the shipment came in the Georgia importer no longer customers, so I moved the goods myself in the Washington area & Maryland. Of course I missed a few legal niceties in Virginia & Maryland but both the Georgia importer and the wineries got their money on time, A wholesaler in Georgia can not buy or import directly creating a fourth tier. Most GA importers do not even warehouse wines, after a few hours sitting in the importers warehouse, unwrapped, it is delivered or picked up by the wholesaler. I never could get the Simian owners to make up point of sale material that said "Don't monkey around--try Ch Simian today" After I did all that, the French broker cut me out. I hope he's still chasing Marty's for payment.

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