2017 Domaine Olivier Hillaire Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Petits Pieds d'Armand
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Tasting notes
Deep crimson. Powerful red and blue fruit preserve, Moroccan spice and incense aromas pick up smoky mineral and vanilla nuances with aeration. Sweet, broad and seamless on the palate, offering sappy boysenberry, black raspberry, fruitcake and lavender pastille flavors that deftly marry richness to energy. Shows outstanding clarity and spicy thrust on a very long, floral-driven finish that displays zero rough edges.
Critic scores
Average Score
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Petits Pieds D'Armand is a magical wine and is at the same level as the 2010. Based all on Grenache from La Crau, brought up in larger barrels, it offers a heavenly bouquet of orange blossom, kirsch liqueur, black raspberries, and peppery incense. Super-rich, powerful, and full-bodied, yet also weightless, this is old vine Grenache at its most sexy and opulent. It’s one for the Grenache lovers out there and ideal for drinking over the coming 10-15 years. Readers who love ripe, sexy, lusty Grenache driven wines will love the wines of Olivier Hillaire. They rarely pull any punches on the ripeness scale yet just ooze Provencal charm and character. Count me in as a big fan.
Hillaire's 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Petits Pieds d'Armand comes from a patch of Grenache planted at the end of the 19th century in a sandy portion of la Crau. Aged in 400-liter barrels, it shows virtually no wood flavors, instead delivering floral notes of roses, black tea and ripe cherries. Full-bodied and supple, it picks up hints of cinnamon and clove on the long, silky-textured finish. It's a terrific effort that can be drunk with pleasure now and anytime over the next 15 years.
100% Grenache. Tasted blind. Lovely baked redcurrant and rhubarb aromas, very much like the Pinot of the south. Deliciously ripe palate with gorgeous succulence and floral lift, and super-fine tannins on the finish. Satisfying, drinkable, well defined. (RH)