2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge, La Crau, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Rhône

2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge, La Crau, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Rhône

Product: 20161118076
Prices start from £495.00 per case Buying options
2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge, La Crau, Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, Rhône

Buying options

Available by the case In Bond. Pricing excludes duty and VAT, which must be paid separately before delivery. Storage charges apply.
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6 x 75cl bottle
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3 x 150cl magnum
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Description

Undoubtedly one of the top vintages of this wine, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau features classy notes of crushed stones and black tea to go along with ripe raspberries and black cherries. Full-bodied yet silky, there's more power and richness in La Crau than in Piedlong, yet there's commensurate elegance and finesse. The wine grows in intensity on the finish without ever seeming heavy or overripe, instead offering hints of tea and licorice.
Joe Czerwinski - 31/08/2018

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Critics reviews

Wine Advocate96/100
Undoubtedly one of the top vintages of this wine, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau features classy notes of crushed stones and black tea to go along with ripe raspberries and black cherries. Full-bodied yet silky, there's more power and richness in La Crau than in Piedlong, yet there's commensurate elegance and finesse. The wine grows in intensity on the finish without ever seeming heavy or overripe, instead offering hints of tea and licorice.
Joe Czerwinski - 31/08/2018 Read more

About this WINE

Vieux Télégraphe

Vieux Télégraphe

Vieux Télégraphe, situated on the famed La Crau plateau in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in the Southern Rhône Valley, is celebrated for its distinctive terroir. The Bruniers, who began cultivating the land in 1898, now manage 70 hectares here. The plateau's galets roulés (pudding stones) absorb and re-radiate the sun’s heat, creating a warm microclimate that supports even grape ripening. The underlying clay subsoil helps counterbalance excess heat by maintaining vine hydration and coolness, while the altitude and exposure to the Mistral wind protect against disease and frost.

The 2021 vintage at Vieux Télégraphe faced challenges with flash frost affecting the region, though the estate largely escaped the worst damage. Despite some impact on Pallières, the main vineyards, including La Crau, emerged relatively unscathed. The year saw a slight drop in yields, with overall production down by around 30%. Winemaker Daniel Brunier characterised the vintage as classic, noting its freshness and balance. The later harvest contributed to a concentration of flavours, and Brunier anticipates that the wines will reveal exciting developments as they age.

Besides their Châteauneuf-du-Pape holdings, the Brunier family also owns Domaine des Pallières in Gigondas, where they experienced fewer issues from frost and rainfall. Daniel Brunier is particularly proud of the 2021 vintage here, describing the wines as pure, linear, and well-balanced with moderate alcohol levels. He considers the Racines cuvée among his finest achievements, highlighting the estate’s commitment to quality and finesse across their properties.

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Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Châteauneuf-du-Pape

The most celebrated village of the Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the birthplace of the now indispensable French Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée system – imperfect though it may be. Compared to the Northern Rhône, the vineyards here are relatively flat and often feature the iconic galet pebbles – the precise benefits of which are a source of much debate. Minimum alcohol levels required by the AOC are the highest in France, but at 12.5% it is well below the natural generosity of Grenache, which only achieves its full aromatic potential when it is fully ripe and laden with the resultant high sugars. Syrah and Mourvèdre contribute the other defining elements in the blend, adding pepper, savoury spice and structure to the decadent Grenache. There are a further 10 permitted red grape varieties which can be used to adjust the “seasoning”. Of the five white varieties permitted, it is Grenache Noir’s sibling – predictably perhaps – Grenache Blanc, which dominates, though Roussanne shows a great deal of promise when handled well, notably at Château de Beaucastel.

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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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When is a wine ready to drink?

We provide drinking windows for all our wines. Alongside the drinking windows there is a bottle icon and a maturity stage. Bear in mind that the best time to drink a wine does also depend on your taste.

Not ready

These wines are very young. Whilst they're likely to have lots of intense flavours, their acidity or tannins may make them feel austere. Although it isn't "wrong" to drink these wines now, you are likely to miss out on a lot of complexity by not waiting for them to mature.

Ready - youthful

These wines are likely to have plenty of fruit flavours still and, for red wines, the tannins may well be quite noticeable. For those who prefer younger, fruitier wines, or if serving alongside a robust meal, these will be very enjoyable. If you choose to hold onto these wines, the fruit flavours will evolve into more savoury complexity.

Ready - at best

These wines are likely to have a beautiful balance of fruit, spice and savoury flavours. The acidity and tannins will have softened somewhat, and the wines will show plenty of complexity. For many, this is seen as the ideal time to drink and enjoy these wines. If you choose to hold onto these wines, they will become more savoury but not necessarily more complex.

Ready - mature

These wines are likely to have plenty of complexity, but the fruit flavours will have been almost completely replaced by savoury and spice notes. These wines may have a beautiful texture at this stage of maturity. There is lots to enjoy when drinking wines at this stage. Most of these wines will hold in this window for a few years, though at the very end of this drinking window, wines start to lose complexity and decline.