A Cuvée which makes a noticeable return after two years of absence.A rich, opulent, Wine… The texture is of rare density. A flask which takes on the major standards of the Appellation and brings them up to a summit !
The vintage

A Vintage shaped for Grenache, in the first place. Intense, engaging, deep colors… Bright fruit, striking structures, with a singular quality of the tannin... And the more unreal, as this is the most unlikely feature in this table, the pH… pH which is astonishingly low...
All in all, 2016 solves the problem of squaring the circle in the world of wine ! Wines which are “easy”, absolutely delicious to drink young, fresh, yet with a structure, a fleshiness, a balance, which promise them an unprecedented destiny…

Terroir

La Crau, les Cardioles, Cabrières.La Crau, les Cardioles, Coste Froide, Cabrières, Bois Dauphin

Ageing

12 months in one vintage old barrels. Allier and Tronçais. Then 12 months in foudre.

Winemaking

1/3 non destemmed.

Serving

14°C
Decant 2 hours before tasting.

Tasting

A Cuvée which makes a noticeable return after two years of absence.A rich, opulent, Wine… The texture is of rare density. A flask which takes on the major standards of the Appellation and brings them up to a summit !

Alcohol content

14,5%

Bottling

Without fining and filtration.

Cépages

Grenache noir : 85 %
Syrah : 10 %
Mourvèdre : 5 %

A wine well worth the extra effort to track down will be the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes. A step up over the classic cuvée, with both more richness as well as elegance, it offers perfumed aromatics of black raspberries, spice cake, incense, and flowers. Beautifully concentrated, with a terrific mid-palate, it will keep for 15+ years.

JebDunnuck.com , 92-94/100 , 2017-10-19

Mid crimson. Real lift to this wine. Very aromatic and then so sweet and round on the palate! You want to gobble it up immediately. The tannins can, just, be discerned underneath but it’s already all charm, spice and intensity. Great balance – though no shortage of alcohol ...

Jancis Robinson , 18/20 , 2017-12-01

Deep bright-rimmed ruby. A complex, highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruit, exotic spice and floral aromas complemented by a vibrant mineral quality that builds as the wine stretches out. Sweet, seamless and broad on the palate, offering concentrated raspberry, boysenberry and spicecake flavors that show superb clarity and focus. The mineral and floral components drive an extremely long, smooth finish given shape by rounded, harmonious tannins. This wine's interplay of depth and clarity is pretty impressive.

Josh Raynolds
Vinous , 93_95/100 , 2018-04-01

Nice composure and balance of fruit and oak here. Ripe, dark berries and plums are framed in baking spices and deliver a meaty, dense palate. Big fruit and crisp, intense tannins here. Try in 2020.

James Suckling , 93/100 , 2018-08-29

La trilogie des Châteauneuf est d'un très haut niveau.

La Revue du Vin de France , 17,5/20

Lightly mulled plum, raspberry and boysenberry fruit flavors form the core here, with steeped anise, black tea and juniper hints adding detail. The tight-grained finish shows nice focus. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah.

James Molesworth
Wine Spectator , 94/100 , 2019-06-30