A follow-up to yesterday's offer of the regular 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Ussiglio: this time, we have the Mon Aïeul, the big dog of the lineup. Cuvée de Mon Aïeul is a pure old-vine Grenache selection from 75 to 95-year-old vines from the great vineyards of La Crau, Bédines, and Les Serres. It is one of our favorite wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape—a fantastic showing of Grenache—and consistently one of Pierre Usseglio's best buys. Hand-harvested and carefully sorted, fermentation takes place in concrete to preserve lift and purity, with élevage primarily in concrete and a small portion in large, used demi-muids for polish. The 2015 season was excellent, delivering ripe fruit, fresh acidity, and fine tannins, so expect vivid kirsch and raspberry, garrigue, licorice, and graphite with a long, focused finish. This wine is poised to drink well now and evolve gracefully for another decade or more, and is a fantastic buy from Chateauneuf!
Jeb Dunnuck 97 pts! The 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de Mon Aïeul is another gorgeous wine from this family estate. As always it comes from three Grenache parcels: la Serres, La Crau and La Guigasse (there are 2 hectares in each parcel). In both 2015 and 2016 this cuvée wasn’t destemmed and was brought up mostly in tank, with 15-20% in demi-muids. The 2016 spent a huge 45 days on skins before being pressed to barrel. This beauty offers the fine, finesse-driven style of the vintage, yet has full-bodied depth and richness as well as sensational notes of framboise, crushed flowers, licorice, Christmas fruitcake and spice. It’s in the top handful of wines in the vintage and will benefit from short-term cellaring and have 20+ years of overall longevity. This estate hasn’t missed a beat in the past decade (or more) and their 2015s and 2016s both check-in near the top of the pyramid. It’s worth noting that this estate has started including slightly more stems than in the past while pulling back on the new barrels. Nevertheless, this is one estate who’s wines handle their oak elevage beautifully. They’ve also created a new white special cuvee based on Grenache Blanc and Clairette, and it’s a terrific wine worth seeking out (although I don’t know the price point).
2015 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul
2015 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul
A follow-up to yesterday's offer of the regular 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape from Ussiglio: this time, we have the Mon Aïeul, the big dog of the lineup. Cuvée de Mon Aïeul is a pure old-vine Grenache selection from 75 to 95-year-old vines from the great vineyards of La Crau, Bédines, and Les Serres. It is one of our favorite wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape—a fantastic showing of Grenache—and consistently one of Pierre Usseglio's best buys. Hand-harvested and carefully sorted, fermentation takes place in concrete to preserve lift and purity, with élevage primarily in concrete and a small portion in large, used demi-muids for polish. The 2015 season was excellent, delivering ripe fruit, fresh acidity, and fine tannins, so expect vivid kirsch and raspberry, garrigue, licorice, and graphite with a long, focused finish. This wine is poised to drink well now and evolve gracefully for another decade or more, and is a fantastic buy from Chateauneuf!
Jeb Dunnuck 97 pts! The 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de Mon Aïeul is another gorgeous wine from this family estate. As always it comes from three Grenache parcels: la Serres, La Crau and La Guigasse (there are 2 hectares in each parcel). In both 2015 and 2016 this cuvée wasn’t destemmed and was brought up mostly in tank, with 15-20% in demi-muids. The 2016 spent a huge 45 days on skins before being pressed to barrel. This beauty offers the fine, finesse-driven style of the vintage, yet has full-bodied depth and richness as well as sensational notes of framboise, crushed flowers, licorice, Christmas fruitcake and spice. It’s in the top handful of wines in the vintage and will benefit from short-term cellaring and have 20+ years of overall longevity. This estate hasn’t missed a beat in the past decade (or more) and their 2015s and 2016s both check-in near the top of the pyramid. It’s worth noting that this estate has started including slightly more stems than in the past while pulling back on the new barrels. Nevertheless, this is one estate who’s wines handle their oak elevage beautifully. They’ve also created a new white special cuvee based on Grenache Blanc and Clairette, and it’s a terrific wine worth seeking out (although I don’t know the price point).
