2013 Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac
Buying options
Tasting notes
What should be up with the crème of the vintage, the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac is smoking stuff. Made from 100% Grenache and coming from less than a half-ton per acre (which is just about nothing), it sports a deep purple color to go with fabulous strawberry, blackberry, dried garrigue, cured meats and earth. About as seamless and elegant as they come in the vintage, it has medium to full-bodied richness, ultra-fine tannin and beautiful length. It should be reasonably approachable on release, and evolve for over a decade.||While the tasting with Michel Chapoutier for his northern Rhônes is a mammoth one, the southern Rhone lineup is a more manageable size. These wine are certainly high quality across the board, and while the Barbe Rac is one of the top wines in 2012, don’t miss the value priced wines from this estate; they sell for a song and always deliver value. His northern Rhônes will be covered in Issue 216 and I’ll also have his Languedoc and Roussillon releases out early next year. eRobertParker.com.October, 2014
Critic scores
Jeb Dunnuck
About the producer
M. Chapoutier is one of the Rhône’s most famous and established producers. The company produces an incredibly broad range of wines at every price point – from everyday Côtes du Rhône to its top single-vineyard cuvées, both from estate-owned vineyards and purchased fruit.