Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Chateauneuf-du-Pape Reserve 2005
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Along with Clos St.-Jean’s Deus Ex Machina, Vieille Julienne’s 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve (200 cases produced) is the wine of the vintage. From 101-year old Grenache vines planted in sandy soils, it boasts a black/purple color as well as a gorgeous perfume of smoke, meat, blackberries, sweet cherries, creme de cassis, licorice, spice, and a hint of pine forest/underbrush. The fruit dominates in this rich, intense, remarkable effort. It requires 5-7 years of bottle age, but should keep for 35-50 years, proving to be one of the most legendary Chateauneuf du Papes ever made. Anticipated maturity: 2012-2040+.
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Wine Spectator
Quite lush for a 2005, with rich, forward raspberry and boysenberry fruit layered with mocha, fruitcake and Christmas pudding notes. Intense graphite underpinning keeps it all honest. The superlong finish is loaded with raspberry ganache and Turkish coffee notes. Just grows and grows in the glass. Grenache and Syrah.
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Domaine de la Vieille Julienne’s wines are not released until Jean-Paul feels they are approaching their peak. This means that his wines age at the cellar and come into the market years after most other Chateauneuf du Papes have come and gone.
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.