2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine la Roquette, Brunier

2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine la Roquette, Brunier

Product: 936401
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2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Domaine la Roquette, Brunier

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Description

Farmed on soils which are both sandy and pebbly, La Roquette is a poised and complex wine. With 70% Grenache providing the sweet fruit and a balance of Syrah and Mourvdre adding structure and a savoury note, this is a richly textured wine with a silky tannic backdrop and an engaging finish.

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About this WINE

Domaine La Roquette

Domaine La Roquette

Henri Brunier (of Vieux Télégraphe fame) bought this Châteauneuf-du- Pape estate in 1986. The 27 hectares of vineyards are located on a rocky plateau north of the village. They are planted with 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and 10% Mourvèdre and the average age of the vines is over 40 years old.

The estate is now run by brothers Daniel and Frederick Brunier. A new winery was built in the mid 1990s and was first used for the 1998 vintage. The grapes are hand picked and are then fermented for 15-20 days in temperature-controlled stainless steel tanks. The wine remains in tanks for a further year before being transferred into oak casks where it is aged for a further 8 months. It is bottle unfined and unfiltered.

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Southern Rhône Blend

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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