About this WINE
Chateau de Cazeneuve
Chateau de Cazeneuve wine maker, André Leenhardt, was first drawn to this area in 1987 when looking for parcels of land to create a herb nursery. The project floundered, but having fallen in love with the area he bought 20 ha of an existing wine estate.
Like all quality-conscious winemakers he keeps his yields low, down to a derisory 25-30hl/ha. He harvests by hand, practices traditional fermentation procedures and ages his wines in barrel.
Southern Rhône Blend
The vast majority of wines from the Southern Rhône are blends. There are 5 main black varieties, although others are used and the most famous wine of the region, Châteauneuf du Pape, can be made from as many as 13 different varieties. Grenache is the most important grape in the southern Rhône - it contributes alcohol, warmth and gentle juicy fruit and is an ideal base wine in the blend. Plantings of Syrah in the southern Rhône have risen dramatically in the last decade and it is an increasingly important component in blends. It rarely attains the heights that it does in the North but adds colour, backbone, tannins and soft ripe fruit to the blend.
The much-maligned Carignan has been on the retreat recently but is still included in many blends - the best old vines can add colour, body and spicy fruits. Cinsault is also backtracking but, if yields are restricted, can produce moderately well-coloured wines adding pleasant-light fruit to red and rosé blends. Finally, Mourvèdre, a grape from Bandol on the Mediterranean coast, has recently become an increasingly significant component of Southern Rhône blends - it often struggles to ripen fully but can add acidity, ripe spicy berry fruits and hints of tobacco to blends.
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Description
Eponymous chalky soils have allowed André Leenhardt to show off his affection for Syrah, which makes up 50% of the blend ( the balance being made from Grenache 20%, old Carignan 20% and Mourvedre 10%) of this distinctly up-market Pic-Saint-Loup. Elevage has been varied, with barrique for the Syrah and large vats ( aka tronconiques ) and older cement all playing their part in adding to the innate complexity.
The nose sings songs from the garrigue, with thyme, lavender and truffle all evidenced On the palate there are rich blackberry notes underpinned by black olives and a mineral substratum. A superbly textured wine, oaked but not over oaked, powerful and distinctive, this would be an ideal partner for pheasant or partridge. A glossy modern face for the Languedoc, for sure, but certainly not lacking a sense of place.
Simon Field MW, Wine Buyer
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