Tasting Notes by Brand: Chateau de Gaube

Rating 6/ 10
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Chateau de Gaube 1966 50yo 44% for Darroze

Nose: Sweet vanilla frosting and maple glazed pears; a bit floral and mineral too. And peaches! Remarkably fresh for 50 years, but don’t hear me saying “this smells like a ten year old wtf” — no this is soft and elegant, with layers of beautifully integrated oak.

Palate: I was surprised at the bold booze and bourbony oak when it hit the palate. Lots of candied oranges and oak, peach leather, a plug of brewers licorice, a glug of Sauternes. Sometimes these old yaks start to get thinned out but this one maintains a really nice medium+ mouthfeel and a really smooth sweetness. Finish, flat 7-up; orange zest with some pith; sweet and medium in length.

Rating: 6 / 10 – Flawless, if a tad unexciting. Certainly could remain in barrel a long time more. I don’t get much in the way of rancioted nuts or raisins or Madeira qualities that I expected. Darroze in his interview mentions that despite similarities of oak and oxidation, every Gaube expresses a different style, which makes me want to try more from this domaine. This one isn’t exactly in my wheelhouse but I wouldn’t be surprised if others try it and find it an instant favorite. ?‍♀️

Rating 7/ 10
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Chateau de Gaube 1964 43,2% for Darroze

Nose: Freeze dried strawberries dipped in espresso laced fudge. Tobacco leaf and the ephemeral smell of a cigar smoked out in an open field. My grandparents had a well loved country home and orchard a few hours from Paris. I can barely remember the house itself as mami would kick me out of it the minute I was awake and told me to come back before the sun set. There is an old farmhouse smell that is hard to describe. Aged wood. Wool. Preserved flowers bouquet and drying fruit from the orchard. Baking brownies with walnuts. And then the fruit pops again. Bright green apples. Not just sweet, but a tart that wrinkles my nose.

Palate: Almonds and pate a choux. Wood tannins and the aftertaste of tobacco. Quince and unripe pear. Lime peel. Lavender slowly transitioning into Moroccan mint.

Rating: 7 / 10 – What a nose. And a beautiful palate. But I swear they belong to different spirits. The nose harkening back to older whisky, the palate to an elegant herbal cognac.

Rating 5/ 10
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Chateau de Gaube 1971 42,9%for Darroze

Nose: Dusty. Holy peaches batman; peach gummies, peach crumble, peach frosting, canned peaches, fried peaches. Roasted peaches. Poached peaches. Peach jambalaya. A hint of floral.. Honeysuckle and orange blossom. Walnuts. Prune and the ghost of anise.

Palate: Where did all that sugar and fruit go from the nose? Anise, cloves, cinnamon. The glue from licking an envelope. Lightly waxy. Dried lemon or orange peel transitioning to herbal.

Rating: 5 / 10 – A fun visit but the palate is a touch too herbal and bitter after all the promise of the nose. But what a nose.