Wine & Spirits - February 2017 - 55


YEAR'S BEST RHONE WINES

217745

94 | Dom. Grand Veneur

217602
$70

2013 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines ^
Alain Jaume and his children, Sébastien,
Christophe and Hélène, grow this wine in a
stony, red-clay parcel on the northern high
plateau, near Beaucastel. It seems to channel
the cooler clime in the tightness of its fruit,
as red and firm as a barely ripe Bing cherry;
in the taut energy of its acidity; in the floral
fillips that give it grace. At the same time,
there's a dark and earthy side, grippy tannins
slowly drawing out the meatiness of its concentration. Nearly half grenache, fermented
in cement, the rest mourvèdre and syrah (30
and 20 percent, respectively) fermented in
oak, it feels like a wine with a clear story to
tell. Give it a half-dozen years in the cellar to
relax; then pull it out for a winter evening. §
Kysela Père et Fils, Winchester, VA

217982

94 | Bertrand Stehelin

$43

2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Best Buy) ^ The
Stehelin family is most known for its Gigondas wines at Domaine Paillère & Pied-Gû,
which they've run for five generations. Bertrand, who began making the wines alongside his parents in 2001, launched his own
label in 2004, slowly acquiring 22 acres of
vines across the southern Rhône, including
some old vines in Châteauneuf. Mostly grenache, with just two percent syrah, entirely
destemmed and aged in stainless steel, this
is sappy and spicy: wine as a vehicle for garrigue, sun and wind. There's nothing fancy
about it, winning instead on its purity and
grace, the way it evokes both the flesh of a
cherry and the chew of its skin, and the clean
earthiness of freshly turned soil. § Wines of
France, Mountainside, NJ

93 | Château La Nerthe

$180

2013 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée des
Cadettes ^ Selected from La Nerthe's oldest
vines, 85 to 100 years old, this is a blend of
grenache, mourvèdre and syrah cofermented
without added yeasts in barrel and aged in
new oak for a year. Right now, that wood
treatment gives the wine a cedary, sappy
scent, but the fruit comes up after a few hours
in a decanter, pristine in its fresh florality and
red-berried juiciness. Then the cedar scents
read more as forest floor, adding depth and
breadth to the wine. This should continue
to develop well in the cellar for a decade or
more. § Pasternak Wine Imports, Harrison, NY
211809

93 | Château La Nerthe

92 | Pascal

$75

92 | Le Vieux Donjon

$59

2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Clément V ^ A bottling from Yves Cheron of
Domaine du Grand Montmirail in Gigondas,
this is deliciously fresh and vibrant. The redfruited center is sweet and round; the spice
and herbal notes surrounding it pleasantly
bitter and balancing, while a cool minerality
gives it a steadfast grip. § Serge Doré Selections,
Chappaqua, NY
217988
2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ^ Claire Fabre
turned out a bright, vivacious Châteauneufdu-Pape from her vineyards, 37 acres devoted
mainly to old vines, some over 100 years old.
It tastes of red raspberries and black plums,
mint, herbs and earth. The tannins are firm
yet elastic, like long, lean muscles, the wine
approachable now yet capable of aging well
over the next five to ten years. § Wines of
France, Mountainside, NJ

$65

2004 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ^ Ralph Garcin
joined Château La Nerthe as managing
director earlier this year, after longtime
manager Christian Voieux retired. One of
Garcin's first moves was to release some
of the wines the estate had been patiently
cellaring. This 2004 hails from a vintage
remembered for its drought-like conditions
up until August; it's slow to emerge from
the soft, caramel notes of age, but rewards
patience as it takes on a kaleidoscopic array
of flavors. The fruit comes up, gauzy but
present, a delicate background for a hungerinducing array of spices, herbs and umami
flavors. It feels wonderfully organic, like
forest floor and dried grasses, mushrooms
and black cherries, ready now but also in
no danger of fading over the next several
years. (W&S 6/16) § Pasternak Wine Imports,
Harrison, NY
217681

92 | Domaine La Fagotière $37

2011 Châteauneuf-du-Pape (Best Buy) ^
La Fagotière's 42 acres in the northern end
of Châteauneuf handled the temperature
swings of 2011 well, turning out one of the
most graceful Châteauneufs in our tastings
for this issue. It shows its ripeness not in
sweetness but in meaty depth, the wine
almost bloody in its mineral tang. At the
same time, it's fragrant and lifted, notes
of violets, spice and herbs giving it a cool,
foresty feel, the acidity holding the wine to a
lean, long line. § Cognac One, NY
217534

217522

91 | André Brunel

$46

91 | Clos de l'Oratoire
des Papes

$55

90 | Domaine Bosquet
des Papes

$46

2012 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ^ Although Bru-
nel uses younger-vine fruit for this bottling
(his older vines provide the fruit for Les Cailloux), it has plenty of complexity, from the
spicy, herbal fruit to the notes of shiitakes
and seaweed that give it a saline, umami
depth. It's mature and savory. § Folio Fine Wine
Partners, Napa, CA
217855
2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape ^ This is sappy
and bright, a gauzy scrim of spice, herb and
earth giving interest to the red fruit without
adding weight. Soft and a little peppery with
alcohol, it's ready to drink with a pork roast
stuffed with herbs. § Vinum Int'l, Napa, CA
217976
2014 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Tra-
dition ^ This is extraordinarily fragrant, its
violet richness carrying into the flavors, the
wine velvety and soft. It takes time for the
tannins to dig their heels in, bringing some
meaty texture to the wine; overall, however,
this is fresh and friendly, a modern Châteauneuf. § Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ
WINE & SPIRITS

FEBRUARY 2017

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http://www.vignobles-alain-jaume.com/en/Welcome/ http://www.pasternakwine.com/brand/chateau-la-nerthe/ http://www.foliowine.com/pages/dynamic/index.php?tid=257&eod=1 http://www.vinstehelin.fr/les-vins/chateauneuf-du-pape/AOC-Chateauneuf-du-Pape-Cuvee-Bertrand-Stehelin/
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Wine & Spirits - February 2017
