Winemaker Notes
The 2017 Domaine La Barroche Chateauneuf-du-Pape offers a singular wine personality, a delicate alchemy of spices and well-ripened black fruits, a delight for the senses.
Blend: 62% Grenache, 18% Mourvedre, 13% Syrah, 5% Cinsault, 1% Vacarrase, 1% Other
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Spectator
Warm and lush in feel, with a cascade of cassis, plum puree and raspberry coulis flavors gliding through, laced with red licorice accents and enlivened by flashes of garrigue and rooibos tea on the finish. Shows lots of range and character. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Replacing the Signature bottling, winemaker Julien Barrot has now put his name on the estate's entry-level Châteauneuf du Pape. The 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Julien Barrot is a fine effort, combining black cherries and red raspberries on the nose and backing the impressive fruit with ample weight, a plush, velvety texture and great purity and length on the finish. It should drink well for a decade or more.
-
Jeb Dunnuck
Previously released as the Cuvée Signature, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Julien Barrot checks in as a blend of 60% Grenache, 19% Mourvèdre, 14% Syrah, and the rest Cinsault, Vaccarèse and other varieties. It's another elegant, seamless wine that has a touch of Burgundy in its texture as well as length and offers notes of ripe black cherries, blackberries, crushed flowers, and ground pepper. Pure, medium-bodied, silky, and finesse-driven, it has a wonderful sense of freshness and purity. Drink it over the coming 15 years or more.
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.