Crous St Martin Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2015
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This wine will match very well with red meat, such as beef and game, but also with cheeses.
Blend: 80% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre
Other Vintages
2021-
James
Suckling
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Jeb
Dunnuck
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Robert
Parker
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Wine
Enthusiast -
Jeb
Dunnuck
The soil is composed of river stones, the famous "galets roulés", which got cumulated in the area millions of years ago, during the ice age period. These stones are made of quartzite, a pure and hard silica. This layer of stones is sometimes several meters deep, and mixed with a brownish clay. From this soil the wine gets its depth and concentration. The stones cumulate the sun heat during the day, and reject it during the night. They also have a second soil type, less known, but equally important: an alluvial soil of fine sand mixed with clay. This soil type if very beneficial for the finesse and elegance in the wines. The mixture of these two soil types brings a lot more complexity in our wine and continuity over the different vintages.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.