French AF
March 25, 2023
Dinner
Drinks
Champagne Starter
A delightful selection courtesy of David and Diana to open the evening as we enjoy some bubbles and charcuterie.
Exploring
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
About the Region
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, or “little castle of the Pope”, is in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. The village lies about 3 kilometres to the east of the Rhône and 12 kilometres north of the town of Avignon.
CdP wine comes from a small subregion of 3200 hectares.
The Terroir
The main soils found in CdP include galets roulés (rounded stones over sandy, iron-rich red clay), safres (sand-dominant soils), and eclats calcaires (more chalky-colored, limestone rich clays). Chateau de Beaucastel has both galets roulés and safres.
The galets play a key role by retaining the heat of the day and radiating it to the vines at night.
Typical CdP Wine
CdP wines permit 13 varietals of grapes to be included in their red wine blends, but a blend from the region must be predominantly Grenache.
The Winemaker
We’ll be sampling a vertical of 3 vintages from Chateau de Beaucastel.
This estate is owned by Famille Perrin and has a historical land-purchase record dating back to 1549. The blend is:
Grenache : 30%
Mourvèdre : 30%
Syrah : 15%
Counoise : 10%
Vaccarèse, Terret Noir, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul, Picardan, Bourboulenc, Roussanne : 10%
Cinsault : 5%
Vinification
After sorting and de-stemming, the harvest is vinified in traditional vats for 15 days. Each grape varietal is vinified separately during this stage.
After 15 days the wine is blended and then aged in oak barrels for one year.
After bottling, the wine is stored in the Beaucastel cellar for another year.
Vintage: 1999
From the winemaker:
An exceptional vintage.
A very cold winter, cool harvest period and great conditions until the end.
Vintage: 2009
From the winemaker:
The 2009 vintage can be described as a wine with good structure and soft tannins.
The wine is balanced and has great acidity despite the high temperatures in August.
This wine has characteristics of great vintages such as 2005 and 2007, with great aging potential.
Vintage: 2019
From the winemaker:
The years in 9 regularly mark the memory of winegrowers and this vintage was no exception.
After an early bud burst in early April, flowering was gradual and took place in good conditions in all the vineyards.
Then a hot summer began in late June, which the vines bravely resisted: they suffered little from water stress, thanks to the chamomile herbal infusions we sprayed on the vegetation to cope with the heat.
Finally, the harvest went as usual, without any particular precocity.
The wines are promising; a vintage in 9 is born, once again, under a lucky star.
A Different Blend
After the Beaucastel vertical we’ll explore a wine from a different CdP winemaker.
The Clos de l'Oratoire des Papes is a blend of:
Grenache : 60%
Syrah : 35%
Mourvèdre : 5%
From the winemaker:
The 2020 vintage in Southern Rhône was favoured by very good weather conditions, it is an optimal vintage, in terms of quality. Not as hot as in 2019, this year was very windy, throughout the growing cycle, with light rainfalls.
A Different World
We’ll end with a CdP-like Grenache-based blend from a new world vineyard, courtesy of Duncan and Caron, to explore the similarities and differences that result from climate, terroir, and vinification technique.