Country: | France |
Regions: | Rhone Vacqueyras |
Winery: | Colline St-Jean |
Grape Type: | Grenache |
Vintage: | 2016 |
Bottle Size: | 750 ml |
Clos Saint-Jean Chateauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is made from a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Vaccarèse and Muscardin, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is made from old vines located in and around Le Crau. The Grenache is aged in concrete for 12 months while the remainder is aged in demi-muid.
Review:
A bigger, richer wine, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes has a similar style in its peppery garrigue, lavender, scorched earth, and licorice aromatics. It’s slightly darker fruited than the base cuvée and has a rock star of a mid-palate, building, sweet tannins, and a great finish. It’s one stunning bottle of wine to drink over the coming 10-15 years.
-Jeb Dunnuck 95 Points
Rich and seductive in style, featuring waves of warmed plum sauce and blackberry purée flavors laced with singed alder, licorice root and tobacco notes, with flashes of ganache and warm earth in the background. Everything stays well-defined through the finish, which offers a late echo of minerality. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Vaccarèse and Muscardin.
- Wine Spectator 95 Points
Clos Saint-Jean Chateauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is made from a Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Vaccarèse and Muscardin, the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is made from old vines located in and around Le Crau. The Grenache is aged in concrete for 12 months while the remainder is aged in demi-muid.
Review:
A smaller selection from older vines from La Crau, the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is a clear step up. Both red and black fruits, spring flowers, black licorice, and rocky, mineral notes merge from the glass, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a layered, silky mouthfeel and beautiful tannins.
-Jeb Dunnuck 92-94 Points
Sainte-Marie Bourgogne Blanc Vieilles Vignes is made from 100 percent Chardonnay.
The wine has a perfect light yellow color with green hues. Nose of white flower, sweet spice and bitter orange. Fresh and delicious attack. It shows roundness and a slight buttery note with a very saline finish that makes you slightly salivate.
Excellent with Seafood, grilled fish, clams and oysters of course. Also great with goat cheese or Comté cheese.
Aged on lees for 6 months in stainless steel vats. Adjustment of sulphites at the end of MLF and before bottling. Filtration on earth then on 1.2µ cartridge after bonding with bentonite.Machine harvest, and direct pressing with a pneumatic horizontal press. Static settling. Alcoholic and malolactic fermentation in stainless steel vats with native yeast and bacteria.
Cazaux Vacqueyras Blanc Vieilles Vignes 50% Clairette, 30% Roussanne and 20% Viognier
The wine has a beautiful golden color.
The aromas are rich and
exotic with mango, almonds, toast, lemon, pineapple white flowers and
papaye. These aromas will develop to honey, butter and pear after ageing
for a few years.
The finish is long, citrusy and toasty.
Terroir: Slopes of sandy soil or grey limestone.
Yield: 25 -30 hl/ha
Age of the vines: 70 years old minimum. The oldest are around 90 years old.
The
grapes are pressed pneumatically after a few hours contact with the
skins.The must is kept at 20°c during the alcoholic fermentation to
optimise the aromas and respect the wine’s suppleness.
Barrel fermented an aged in 228-liter French Oak barrel for 12 months with regular stirrings of the lees.
MaloLactic Fermentation also in barrel.
Enjoy this wine with rich dish, river fish or poultry cooking in creamy sauce. Delicious with a mushroom risotto.
Clos Saint-Jean is a 41-hectare estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape run by brothers Vincent and Pascal Maurel. Considered by many critics and wine-writers as the preeminent estate espousing the modern style of winemaking in Châteauneuf, this cellar is one of the oldest in the region, having been founded in 1900 by the greatgreat-grandfather of Vincent and Pascal, Edmund Tacussel. A short time after its founding and well before the AOP of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was created in 1923, Edmund began bottling estate wines in 1910.
The farming at Clos Saint-Jean is fully sustainable due to the warm and dry climate, which prevents the need for chemical inputs. Instead, Vincent and Pascal employ organic methods for pest control, mainly pheromones, to prevent pests from taking up residence in their vines, a process called amusingly enough in French, confusion sexuelle. The vines tended manually, and harvest is conducted in several passes entirely by hand.
Combe des Fous literally means, the hill of the fool. The hill, in this case, is located in the far southern reach of Le Crau which was left barren for many centuries because the layer of galets was so exceedingly deep that everyone assumed vines could never survive there. The fool in this situation is Edmund Tacussel, the great-great-grandfather of Vincent and Pascal Maruel who planted a Grenache vineyard on this site in 1905. That old-vine Grenache form the heart of this cuvée with a small amount of Syrah, Cinsault and Vaccarèse. La Combe des Fous is only made in the best vintages.
Review:
Pumps out heady raspberry, mulberry and blackberry compote notes that keep form and direction, thanks to a roasted apple wood spine and flanking ganache, garrigue and warm earth notes. Seriously grippy finish. Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Vaccarèse.
-Wine Spectator 96 Points
The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Combe Des Fous is a normal blend of 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and the rest Vaccarèse and Cinsault. Beautiful, full-bodied aromas and flavors of ripe black raspberries, violets, ground pepper, lavender, and herbes de Provence all emerge from this gorgeous barrel sample, and it shows the pure, fresh, yet still concentrated style of the vintage brilliantly.
-Jeb Dunnuck 94-97 Points
Clos Saint-Jean is a 41-hectare estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape run by brothers Vincent and Pascal Maurel. Considered by many critics and wine-writers as the preeminent estate espousing the modern style of winemaking in Châteauneuf, this cellar is one of the oldest in the region, having been founded in 1900 by the greatgreat-grandfather of Vincent and Pascal, Edmund Tacussel. A short time after its founding and well before the AOP of Chateauneuf-du-Pape was created in 1923, Edmund began bottling estate wines in 1910.
The farming at Clos Saint-Jean is fully sustainable due to the warm and dry climate, which prevents the need for chemical inputs. Instead, Vincent and Pascal employ organic methods for pest control, mainly pheromones, to prevent pests from taking up residence in their vines, a process called amusingly enough in French, confusion sexuelle. The vines tended manually, and harvest is conducted in several passes entirely by hand.
Deus ex Machina is a literary and dramatic term for a miraculous intervention that interrupts a logical course of events in a plot or play. A suitable name for a cuvée that had it’s start in the torrid vintage of 2003 when Philippe Cambie and Vincent Maurel made the decision to harvest at the end of September, weeks after their neighbors. Deus ex Machina is a blend of old vine Grenache from La Crau, aged in tank with equally ancient Mourvedre from the sandy soils of BoisDauphin aged in demi-muid. Deus ex Machina is only made in the best vintages.
Review:
Machina reminds me slightly of the 2011 with its spicy, perfumed, complex bouquet of red and black fruits, dried flowers, pepper, and Provençal herbs, with more gamey, meaty notes emerging with time in the glass. Full-bodied on the palate, it's balanced, has ultra-fine yet building tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish.
-Jeb Dunnuc 97 Points
Boasts bitter plum, raspberry and black cherry reduction notes that have a lively savory, garrigue streak, while grippy-edged tar, tobacco and ganache notes pepper the finish. Muscular and dense but the cut is there, and the fruit core takes a late encore for good measure. Grenache and Mourvèdre.
-Wine Spectator 97 Points
Colline Saint Jean Vacqueyras Vieilles Vignes is made from 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah.
This wine has a deep purple color, with an intense nose of ripe black fruits, plum, brandied cherries, and chocolate. In the mouth, the wine has rich flavors of black fruits. It is meaty, well-structured, and the tannins are round and elegant.
The juice is aged in concrete tanks for 18 months. The lack of oak helps to frame in the bright and defined dark berry flavors of the old vine grapes. I can not recall another red wine that displays this depth yet displays on the palate with such refreshing acidity.
Vieilles Vignes means old vines.For this specific wine, the age of the vines are comprised between 85 and 110 years old.
Traditional method. Manually picked. Harvest carefully sorted and 100% destemed. Maceration with skins during 20 days in cement vats. Large work of pump over to push the cap.
Red meat, game, white meat, poultry, dishes in sauce, cheese, chocolate dessert.
Review:
"The old vine cuvee from this estate is flat out awesome. Based on 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah that was all destemmed and aged in tank, it boasts a deep, layered, full-bodied profile as well as awesome notes of black fruits, black olives, melted licorice, and obvious minerality. It’s deep, richer, and blacker fruited than the base cuvee and is unquestionably one of the gems in the terrific appellation. It should drink nicely for over a decade."
- Jeb Dunnuck (September 26th 2018), 94 pts
The Domaine St-Jean Estate
Located in the middle of the Cotes du Rhone, in the village of Vacqueyras, at the foot of Dentelles de Montmirail, Domaine de La Colline St. Jean has been a family-owned property for several generations.
The Domaine St-Jean Vineyard
They have 35 ha of vineyards in Vin de Pays du Vaucluse, Côtes-du-Rhône, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Beaumes de Venise. Roland Alazard and his son preserve the character and the traditions of wine producers in their Cotes-du-Rhone wines. The hillside vineyards are heated by the sun giving the resulting wine a generous crimson robe, complex flavors and a delicate roundness on the palate.
Vacqueyras AOC represent 1,690 hectares (4,191 acres), of which only 1,300 hectares (3,224 acres) are planted with vines.
Total production for the entire Vacqueyras AOC is roughly 42,775 hectoliters (474,089 twelve-bottle-case equivalent).
The Grand Vin is the 2017 Harlan Estate, and this beauty just about jumps from the glass with its pure cassis and blackcurrant fruits as well as notes of tobacco, graphite, crushed stone, and spice. With a full-bodied, expansive mouthfeel, building, velvety tannins, and a layered, seamless style that offers way more pleasure than just about every other wine in the vintage, bottles can be enjoyed any time over the coming 20-25 years.
- Jeb Dunnuck 97 Points
The 2017 Harlan Estate is superb. Deep, inky and wonderfully expressive, the 2017 is impeccably rendered. All the elements come together effortlessly. The nervous tannins of the vintage are evident, but there is also plenty of sumptuousness. Time in the glass brings out a whole range of red-toned fruit and floral notes that are surprising for a year with massive heat spike. The 2017 is polished and sophisticated to the core. In a word: impressive.
-- Antonio Galloni - 96+ Points
Deep garnet-purple in color, the 2017 Harlan Estate needs a little coaxing to reveal captivating iron ore, red currant jelly, cloves and crushed rocks scents with a core of warm cassis, Black Forest cake and boysenberries plus a waft of pencil lead. Medium to full-bodied, it has a firm, grainy texture with a lively backbone and loads of earthy layers, long and mineral laced. This should be one of the longer-lived wines coming out of the 2017 vintage.
"2018 had a certain sense of ease to it," Bill Harlan said as we tasted the barrel sample of the next iteration of this iconic label. "The pace was wonderful." "Mother nature was allowing us an extended runway," winemaker Cory Empting agreed. "We just started picking and couldn’t stop."
-Wine Advocate 97+ Points
This is fully loaded, with waves of dense yet succulent blackberry, black currant and fig preserves that move along steadily, pulling roasted apple wood, dark bay leaf, espresso cream and humus notes along. A bolt of cast iron emerges through the finish, remaining well-encased in the fruit and adding prodigious length and stability. A fairly tremendous wine, especially considering the vintage. Best from 2022 through 2040. 2,040 cases made.
-Wine Spectator 97 Points
Bastgen Berncastel-Cueser Weisenstein Riesling Spatlese Trocken is made from 100 percent Riesling.
Bright, clean, fresh and zesty. Grapefruit like flavors. Fruity aromas and a nice minerality, typical of the Riesling grape grown on blue slate soil. Round, rich and a very long finish. The grapes for this wine are vigorously selected. Botrytis is not tolerated. At harvest the grapes are fully ripened, have a golden color, and a soft tartness. After a long spontaneous fermentation in a traditional 1000L barrel, the wine just reaches the dry stage. This gives the wine a creamy structure that interplays with ripe yellow and exotic fruit aromas.
They meticulously tend 4.5 ha (11.11 acres) of which 80% is Riesling. The soil is made of slate. Their vineyards are located in Kesten and Brauneberg, on a steep terrace, and planted to 50-year old vines. Fortunately for Bastgen, they own part of the famous Brauneberger Juffer Sonnenuhr. The vines produce very small, ripe berries that are very tasty.
Review:
"This dry Mosel riesling is GG in all but name! Complex nose of white peach and red-fleshed vineyard peach with herb garden notes. Very elegant and polished this glides over your palate, the precision of flavor on the medium-bodied palate is very impressive. Then comes the wet stone and red berry finish that doesn’t want to stop. From organically grown grapes. Drink or hold."
- James Suckling (November 2023), 95 pts