Domaine Giraud Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Grenaches de Pierre 2018
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Spectator
Wine - Vinous
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Dunnuck
Jeb
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Named in honor of Pierre Giraud, the semi-retired father of Marie and François, Les Grenaches de Pierre is sourced from 100 year old vines of Grenache planted on sandy soils in the lieux-dits of Pignan, Mourre de Gaud and Charbonnières Est. It is fermented and aged entirely in concrete to preserve the vibrancy and freshness of these distinctive terroirs.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This has a nice sleek core of cassis and cherry paste flavors that show tension and cut, while notes of sandalwood, red tea and garrigue filter in throughout. A long, subtle sanguine thread laces up the finish. Approachable, but there's also lots of intrigue that bodes well for cellaring. Drink now through 2036.
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Vinous
Limpid ruby. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes mineral-accented red fruit preserve and floral aromas, complicated by Moroccan spice and incense flourishes. Juicy and expansive on the palate, displaying impressive energy to the spice-laced raspberry preserve, kirsch and fruitcake flavors. Rich yet energetic in character, with supple tannins building slowly through a very long, floral-driven finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another beautiful wine from this family estate, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Grenaches De Pierre comes from a sandy portion of the famed La Crau lieu-dit (near Charbonnière) and is all Grenache brought up in tank and demi-muid. It too reveals a lighter ruby color as well as a heavenly perfume of dried flowers, incense, herbes de Provence, and peppery garrigue as well as kirsch and framboise-like fruits. With medium to full-bodied richness, no hard edges and a seamless texture, it’s ideal for enjoying any time over the coming 10-12 years, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see it age a little longer.
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Wine
In 1998, Pierre was ready to pass on his love of the vine and wine to his children. Marie and François took on the estate hand-in-hand. Under their parents’ watchful eye, they devoted themselves to tending vines and winemaking. They focused their efforts on selecting parcel by parcel, doing minimal treatments, upgrading their cellar to make finer and finer wines while respecting family traditions. François tries hard to tend each parcel and variety respecting the "terroir" as much as possible, that alchemy nature provides us with, to fully express our grapes' full character.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.