Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
A rocking bottle of wine and quite possibly a benchmark Chateauneuf, the 2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul is open for business with knockout aromatics of garrigue, saddle leather, meat and perfectly ripe, licorice infused fruit. Complex but also down right hedonistic, this is full bodied with sweet fruit, a full, smooth texture and a blockbuster finish. There’s still plenty of structure and tannin in the wine so I don’t see this fading anytime soon. Drink these over the next 10 years or so.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
One of the more upfront, downright sexy vintages for this cuvee, the 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul has been firing on all cylinders for about a decade now. Giving up terrific notes of spice-box, cured meats, garrigue and mature Grenache fruit, this beauty is full-bodied, rich, concentrated and mouth filling, with serious amounts of fruit and texture. Like the '99, it's fully mature, but should hold nicely, although there's no need to delay gratification. In 2000, this incorporated a new parcel of sandy soils from a site just north of Domaine de la Solitude, in the la Crau lieu-dit. This blend was 85% Grenache, the rest Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre raised all in foudre.
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Wine Spectator
Good deep red. Superripe, smoky, roasted aromas of liqueur-like dark fruits, minerals and game; distinct surmaturite from the sandy soil near Chateau Rayas. Fat, sweet and lush; has the texture of liquid velvet. Wonderfully rich flavors of dark fruits and game. This captures the fat of this vintage in spades. Finishes with compelling aromatic quality and big, thoroughly ripe, spreading tannins. Has just enough acidity to maintain its balance. Very impressive.
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.