2016 Chateauneuf du Pape A la Gloire de Mon Grand-Pere
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Tasting notes
Limpid ruby color. Highly expressive aromas of raspberry and cherry compote, candied flowers and incense are energized by a smoky mineral topnote. Alluringly sweet and energetic on the palate, offering juicy, densely packed red fruit preserve, candied lavender and spicecake flavors that deepen and spread out steadily with aeration. Shows fine detail and mineral lift on a wonderfully long, smooth finish that features harmonious tannins and an exotic touch of five-spice powder.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
There are 10,000 bottles of the stunning 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape A la Gloire de Mon Grand-Pere, which is good news for lovers of 100% Grenache. Drawn from a single parcel in the lieu-dit of Gardiole (mostly sandy soils), half of the fruit was destemmed. It's full-bodied and concentrated but silky and refined, with scintillating purity of cherry and raspberry fruit, backed by crisp acids and enlivening hints of orange zest on the long, reverberating finish. It's a terrific value that should drink well for more than a decade.
I was questioning if the top cuvées were worth the money after tasting the traditional cuvée from winemaker Nicolas Boiron, then I tasted his 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape A La Gloire de Mon Grand-Père and decided that, yes indeed, the special cuvées in 2016 can certainly be worth the uptick in price. Based almost exclusively on Grenache (there’s a splash of Cinsault and Clairette) sourced from the La Gardiole lieu-dit and aged mostly in demi-muids, this heavenly beauty offers awesome notes of garrigue, toasted spices, flowers, licorice and loads of sweet Grenache fruit. Voluptuous, flamboyant, and sexy, yet also elegant and seamless, with a weightless texture, this is Grenache at its finest and is going to knock your socks off over the coming 10-15 years.