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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, Oct 07
Since 1996, their Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois has been one of the stars of the vintage. The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois boasts a dense purple color, a full-bodied, opulent style, moderately high tannin, sensational concentration, and abundant aromas and flavors of spring flowers, blueberries, blackberries, cherries, and spice. It is a meaty, fleshy, tannic effort that brings to mind the 1998. A brilliant wine for the vintage, it should be exceptionally long lived. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2025. Christophe Delorme and his brother run this estate, which is clearly at the top of its game.... 95 points
A brilliant wine, and again there will be two cuvees, Christophe Delorme’s 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois has a wonderful, gorgeous black/purple color and a beautifully sweet nose of blackberries, scorched earth, graphite, tobacco leaf, and Provencal herbs and spice. Inky, pure, full-bodied, and tannic with good acidity, this wine is going to require patience. Anticipated maturity: 2013-2025+. Parker 94-96 Sadly, the tiny yields of Mordoree’s vineyards only produced 1,250 cases of the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois. (By the way, this is a wine in which 40% passes in small barrels, and 60% is aged in tank, and then the two components are blended together prior to bottling.)
This is an estate that was a no-brainer for inclusion in my recent book on the world’s greatest wine estates. With 135 acres spread throughout some of the most impressive appellations of the southern Rhone, Christophe Delorme and his brother took over this estate in the early to mid-1990s and have done nothing but produce one exquisite wine after another. Of course, the top cuvees of Chateauneuf du Pape are rare and expensive, but this is a place to find terrific Cotes du Rhones and Liracs as well. Delorme is equally adept at dry whites as well as reds, and turns out some stunning roses both under the Cotes du Rhone and Tavel appellations. Visitors to the area will be surprised to find out that Mordoree is actually in Lirac, not Chateauneuf du Pape.
—Robert Parker
