2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Collection Charles Giraud
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Tasting notes
Vivid glistening violet. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes mineral-tinged red and blue fruit preserves, incense and exotic spices, and a sexy floral nuance gains power as the wine opens up. Fleshy, seamless, appealingly sweet and energetic on the palate, offering densely packed, finely detailed raspberry, boysenberry, lavender and candied licorice flavors braced by a core of juicy acidity. Suggestions of five-spice powder and smoked meat appear on the penetrating finish, which shows outstanding clarity, finely wrought tannins and endless red fruit and floral notes.
Critic scores
Average Score
Josh Raynolds, Vinous
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
This has a large core of well-steeped plum, blackberry puree and warm cassis flavors, inlaid liberally with ganache, graphite and Turkish coffee notes. There's a wide swath of tobacco and roasted alder detail through the finish, matched by racy acidity for balancing focus. This is very deep and very long, capturing the intense yet fresh fruit feel of the vintage to a T. 660 cases made, 75 cases imported.
Intensely concentrated, yet light on its feet, this is all about the purity of fruit, sensuous, sexy, velvet textures, and expansive layers of fruit in the finish that must last close to 60 seconds. There is a depth of flavor that invites your palate to explore the wine again and again looking for what else might happen! The wine was made blending 60% old vine Grenache with 40% Mourvedre.
The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Collection Charles Giraud is a 60-40 blend of Grenache and Mourvèdre, fermented with all the stems. There's a hint of cocoa, but raspberries and strawberries are the dominant fruit flavors in this lively, zesty wine. Trace notes of mint, lavender and tea leaf add complexity. Full-bodied and velvety in texture, it's intensely concentrated and rich yet not overly heavy or overripe (it weighs in at 15.5% alcohol), with a lingering, elegant finish. It's a tour de force that should age for two decades or more, and it will be interesting to see how it compares to the perfect 2010 after it's had a few years in bottle.
About the producer
Domaine Saint-Préfert was one of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s leading names, known for crafting some of the region’s most elegant wines. The wines are now bottled under the Famille Isabel Ferrando name.