2015 Domaine La Barroche Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Pure
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Tasting notes
Offering more kirsch liqueur, lavender, incense and sweet spice, the 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Pure is another gorgeous, balanced, seamless beauty. Fine tannin, full-bodied richness, and solid freshness all develop in the glass, and it has a great finish. Like the traditional cuvée, it's elegant, long, and will keep for 15+ years. This cuvée is always from the same parcel located at the intersection of the le Grand Pierre, le Pointu and Rayas lieux-dits, is fermented all in concrete and spends 18 months in a single foudre. There are only 250 cases produced and it’s year in, year out, one of the greatest Grenache’s made in the world. One of my favorite estate out there is Domaine la Barroche from the young Julien Barrot. He’s just completed work on a new cellar located in the village of Châteauneuf du Pape and has produced two beautiful 2015s. I’ll report on his 2016s next year.
Critic scores
The Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
There's no denying I love Grenache grown on sandy sites within the appellation, like the Domaine La Barroche 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Pure. It's vinified in concrete and raised in foudre, so it should hit a home run with me. There's tons of cherry fruit packed into this wine, a velvety texture...so what's my issue with it? The heat. The alcohol shows through on the mid-palate and the finish. If you're more tolerant of that in your table wines than I am, you'll probably score it several points higher. As it is, I still wouldn't turn a glass down if offered.
(most of these vines are now over 115 years old; fermented in large concrete eggs and aged in a large older foudre) Lurid ruby. A complex, highly perfumed bouquet evokes fresh dark berries, cola, incense and potpourri, and a hint of smoky minerality emerges with air. Juicy, penetrating black raspberry, bitter cherry and lavender pastille flavors show superb depth and energy and stretch out to become sweeter on the back half. Shows excellent clarity and spicy lift on a long, sappy finish framed by velvety, slow-building tannins. For such a generous wine, there's no lack of vivacity here.