John Gilman

"Château Mont-Redon- A Very Rare, Classic Châteauneuf du Pape That Harkens Back to the Good Old Days" I have had the good fortune to drink the beautiful 1978 Mont-Redon on four occasions in the last few years and each time I am completely smitten with the style of this superb wine. At age thirty-two the wine is at its absolute summit of peak drinkability, as it soars from the glass in a deep and complex mélange of dark berries, coffee bean, singed heather, gamebirds, lavender, smoke and cigar ash. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, pure and absolutely à point, with great complexity, melting tannins and simply stunning length and grip. This is a classically black fruity, mature vintage of Mont-Redon that will have no difficulties continuing to cruise along at its peak for at least another decade or two and is clearly one of the top 1978 Châteauneufs. A great and utterly classic vintage of Mont-Redon.

(04/2011)

Wine Spectator

This has a lovely brick-garnet color, with very mature notes of almond tuile, sandalwood, dried blood orange and dried cherry fruit, laced with lightly dusty tannins and followed by a long, mineral- and date-tinged finish. There's more length than depth in the end, with a faint drying note at the very end.--Non-blind Château Mont-Redon vertical (JM, Web Only-2009)