Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vintage 2015

The AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape is one of the most beautiful in the Rhone Valley. It is famous for its red wines but also offers very nice white wines. Quality has no price! This is why on each vintage all the grape varieties planted in our plots allow us to best express the terroir that is ours.

Marked by several episodes of high heat and a few timely storms, the 2015 vintage in Châteauneuf-du-Pape can already be described as generous in every sense of the word. Generous in colour, structure and maturity. But also generous in quantity, which is quite rare in a appellation known for its low yields.

A spring rather in the seasonal normal in terms of rainfall (170 mm), followed a dry and hot summer, with temperatures that have several times exceeded 37°C. From mid-June to mid-August the cumulation of precipitation amounted to less than 60 mm, This is little compared to the sunburn that reached 1941 h over 6 months (from April to September), that is to say more than in 2010 and 2011 that were already among the very sunny years.

These favourable weather conditions resulted in the 2015 harvest reaching maturity in good conditions, as the storms of mid-September did not affect the quality of a vintage that was expected under the best auspices. In fact, the first clusters of white grapes were cut at the end of August and the last mourvèdres only in mid-October. If the harvest was spread over long weeks, it was not the same with the fermentations that took place calmly from the beginning to the end, giving birth to rich wines, very balanced and endowed with a beautiful complexity.

The white Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2015 exudes fragrances of white and yellow flowers (acacias, linden), The dresses are golden, the mouths generous, fruity and ample. The notes of exotic fruits and white peaches are complemented by pretty and refreshing bitter, spicy and aniseed finish. Unlike the 2014 white Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which have great aging potential, the 2015, with low acidity, are already easily appreciated. They will go wonderfully with foie gras, crustaceans, fresh goat cheese. The red 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape are characterized by beautiful dark, deep and already brilliant colors. Although dominated by black fruits, the aromas remain fresh, which is a sign of harvest harvested at perfect maturity. Very present, the tannins, silky and with small grains, are fine and elegant. The wines are very balanced, gourmet, fruity, certainly calibrated to age many years but also have all the qualities necessary for consumption in their early youth, as were before them the 1990, 1998 and 2010. In 2016 the AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape will celebrate the 80th anniversary of its designation decree through various events, including a «pro» evening opening in Vinisud on Monday, February 15, the reception of winemakers of Arbois, Cassis, Tavel, Monbazillac and Cognac during the Printemps de Châteauneuf-du-Pape (2 and 3 April), during a Legal and Technical Colloquium on Thursday 21 April at the Faculty of Avignon, and finally on 22 April 2016 on the occasion of the 50th Feast of Saint Mark.