Domaine Raymond Usseglio Chateauneuf-du-Pape Pure Roussanne 2014
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The class of the whites is the 100% Roussanne 2014 Châteauneuf du Pape Roussanne Pure. Brought up all in new and three-year-old barrels, it has sensational notes of crushed rock, sautéed peaches and citrus to go with a medium-bodied, laser focused, tight and chiseled style on the palate. Aromatic, nicely concentrated and lengthy, give it a year in bottle and drink it over the following decade.
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Wine Spectator
This has a plump core, delivering a mix of almond, creamed peach, glazed pear and ginger notes, but there's a racy edge as well, with a light stony note rippling through the finish. Delicious.
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The property, originally started by Raymond Usseglio, covers 16 ha of AOC Chateauneuf du Pape, one of which is planted with white varieties and 5 ha of Cotes du Rhone and 3 ha of IGP. Stephane Usseglio, son of Raymond, is the third generation to take over. He is pushing to reach the potential of the family’s holdings, some of the best of Chateauneuf. Half his vines are situated near the road in the lieu-dit "La Crau" and the other half on the hill across the road from the actual ruins of the new castle of the Pope. He has the good fortune to have very old vines. The average age for his Chateauneuf vines is between 50 & 60 years old and the cuvee Imperiale vines are over 110 years old. The domain started conversation into agriculture biologique in 2012.
Full and silky in body but also charmingly crisp, Roussanne is native to the Rhône Valley of France. It is responsible for some of the finest Northern Rhône white wines. Roussanne adds richness and acidity to Marsanne’s soft, fruitiness, making age worthy and highly respected whites. Somm Secret—Roussanne takes its name from the French word, roux, meaning rouge or red because of the berry’s pink glow. In California, virtually all of the 339 acres of Roussanne come from true clones brought over by Tablas Creek and John Alban.
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.