Maison Laurent-Tardieu Châteauneuf-du-Pape

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Easily accessible on its youth... An early yet ideal expression of Grenache on a unique Terroir.
The vintage

2013 recalls vintages of the early 80s, with wines of heterogeneous quality. Most striking feature: the old vine did not, as is the rule, make the difference. Exceptional... indeed, some sectors suffered a lot, with a historically low harvest, due to "coulure" but also to the extreme cold of the preceding year. Therefore, the old vine had trouble ripening its - too scarce - grapes : it kept on growing, thus « forgetting » its fruit. Another observation : it seems that vignerons who pruned in March succeeded better.
With regards to 2013, as you will have understood, detecting the “right” areas was even wiser than focusing on the very old vines exclusively. This is the approach which we operated. Harvest : the unusually cool and rainy spring has, from the start, conditioned the year, imposing a late harvest - in october... In some sectors, it was only completed on October 29th. and some of our partners who have vineyards at higher altitudes, cooler, early November !
To date, our wines display beautiful colours, with a distinguished, fresh fruit. A touch of austerity, with tannins which can be marked on some "cuvées". Not the shadow of a doubt : here are wines which call for "élevage"! And, if they lack, for the time being, a little harmony and roundness, they appear very "trendy", as though they had been designed for some markets in demand of wines that are fresh, yet typical, balanced, yet with moderate alcoholic degrees...

Terroir

Les Bedines, la Crau, les Tresqouos.

Type of soil

Round pebbles.

Ageing

12 months in one vintage barrels - Allier et Tronçais. Then 6 months in foudre.

Winemaking

50% non destemmed.

Serving

14°C
Decant 2 hours before tasting.

Alcohol content

14,5%

Bottling

Without fining and filtration.

Cépages

Grenache : 80 %
Syrah : 20 %

Slightly closed aromatically, the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape reluctantly gives up subtle blackberry and black raspberry-styled fruits, dried earth and licorice to go with a medium to full-bodied, ripe and supple feel on the palate. Possessing an uncommon level of richness and texture on the palate for the vintage, it has rock-solid density, superb tannin quality and a great finish. It should shine on release and evolve gracefully for up to a decade.

Jeb Dunnuck
Wine Advocate , 89-92/100 , 2014-10-01

Réussite magistrale du complexe millésime 2013.

Guide Bettane et Desseauve des vins de France 2016 , 15,5/20 , 2015-08-20

Porte en lui une légère douceur sucrée et des tanins un rien marqués par le bois. Le tout devrait s'estomper avec le temps, car il y a de la sève et une belle richesse en bouche.

Les Meilleurs Vins de France 2016 - Guide de la Revue des Vins de France , 16,5/20 , 2015-08-01

This has a lovely tarry underpinning, with singed alder, juniper and tobacco notes. The core of raspberry confiture slowly emerges with time in the glass.

James Molesworth
Wine Spectator Insider , 92/100 , 2016-04-05