Domaine Giraud Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Grenaches de Pierre 2019
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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 distinct
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Grenaches De Pierre is a step up and has a wonderfully fresh, pure character as well as full-bodied aromas and flavors of black raspberries, morello cherries, new leather, herbes de Provence, and loamy earth. Pure, perfumed, and already complex, with incredible elegance, it's another gorgeous wine from this estate that can be enjoyed any time over the coming 15 to 20 years.
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Wine Spectator
Densely packed yet silky and refined in feel, giving it an elegant, almost airy sense as the kirsch, cherry puree and damson plum notes sail through, with seamlessly inlaid black licorice, incense and black tea details. Features a nice mineral hint that lingers at the end, adding length and pulling you back for another sip.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced from 100-year-old vines in the sandy lieux-dits of Charbonnières (est), Mourre de Gaud and Pignan, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Grenaches de Pierre is less effusive on the nose than the other cuvées at this address, yet it still remains marked by intense black cherries and licorice notes. Aged solely in concrete, it's full-bodied, velvety-textured and luscious, even if it does show a touch of alcoholic warmth on the lingering finish.
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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.