Dom. de la Cote de l'Ange Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes 2006
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The union of two families castelpapales, Domaine de la Cote d l'Ange claims that tradition and makes it live, in the 21st Centure, perfect in keeping with the times. The "Coast Angel" vineyard age 40 on average, covers 14 hectares in many places said the AOC appellation Chateauneuf du Pape: The Coteaux de l'Ange, La Nerthe land white Major Deves, The windmill...and on 2.5 hectares of AOC Cote du Rhone.
The practice of pruning is used and new environmentally friendly techniques such as mating are used as well. The aim is to produce the healthiest grapes possible. The harvest is done manually, sorting grapes in the traditional manner.
Monique Mestre, Corrine and Yannick Gasparri are the owners and winemakers. Red varietals grown here are Grenache, Mourvedre, Cinsault and Syrah, while the white varietals are primarily Grenache, Clairette and Roussanne.
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.