| 2014-10-17 20:02 |
WA: The cream of the lineup, and possibly the vintage, the 2012 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Grenaches de Pierre is an incredible effort that possesses notions of bouquet garni, pepper, licorice, cassis and crushed stone-like minerality. Full-bodied, powerful and layered, yet also elegant and with terrific intensity and depth, it too should be reasonably approachable in its youth and evolve gracefully for 15 years or more. If you can, don’t miss a chance to latch on to a few of these. Drink 2015-2027.
This is a terrific lineup of wines by the brother and sister team of Marie and Francois Giraud. Their 2011s are certainly near the top of the vintage, with the 2012s looking just as good. In addition to releasing stunning reds, this estate always produces a terrific white. Marie produced three red Chateauneufs in 2012, with no Les Gallimardes due to the tiny quantity. During my tasting, Marie commented on the rain in late September and the difficulty in deciding when to pick. Opting to wait until after the rain for the majority of their plots, this spread the harvest out over five weeks as opposed to the normal two weeks.
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