Wine Advisor
Domaine de la Janasse, Chateauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes 2013
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
Incorporating 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah and 6% Clairette, the Grenache-dominated 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is gorgeous. Slightly more rich and textured than the Cuvee Chaupin, it boasts tons of blackberry, cassis, ground herbs, crushed flowers and creamy licorice in its full-bodied, layered and ripe personality. The tannin quality here is first-rate, and this will benefit from short-term cellaring and evolve for over a decade.
Reviewed by: Jeb Dunnuck
While the cuvée Chaupin comes mostly from sandy soils, the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Vieilles Vignes comes more from the rolled pebble soils the region is famous for, and always shows the richer, more powerful profile imparted from these soils. Mostly foudre-aged Grenache, it incorporates 20% Mourvèdre and roughly 10% Syrah (slightly more Syrah in 2013) that’s raised all in barrel. Exhibiting a deep purple color, it offers fabulous dark berry fruits, licorice, Provençal herbs and earthy/stony minerality on the nose. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully concentrated, ripe and with impressive sweetness to its tannin, it's a fabulous wine that will have 10-15 years of overall longevity.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Opaque ruby. Ripe boysenberry and cassis on the exotically perfumed nose, complicated by suggestions of fresh flowers, Indian spices and incense. Sweet, deeply concentrated dark berry, candied cherry and fruitcake flavors show superb energy and a smooth, velvety texture. Really stains the palate but comes off graceful, with serious depth of flavor but no excess fat. Finishes sweet and supple, displaying outstanding persistence and a suave flourish of floral pastilles.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Dark purple. Powerful aromas of dark fruit preserves, potpourri and candied flowers, with smoky Indian spice and mineral nuances in the background. Sweet and expansive but also sharply delineated, showing very good depth to its blackberry, mineral and floral pastille flavors. Distinctly rich but there's a surprisingly lithe character to this wine as well. Finishes very long and broad, with slow-building tannins and a lingering floral quality.
About the Producer
Founded in 1973 by Aime Sabon, Domaine de la Janasse is particularly young in comparison to the older French wineries. The vineyards were originally owned by Aime Sabon's father, who did not make wine, and the grapes were sold in bulk to wine merchants; in 1967, Aime Sabon retired from the Navy and returned home to take over the vineyards, and in 1973, he built his own cellar, thus creating Domaine de la Janasse. Domaine de la Janasse covers 137.5 acres and has vineyards in several different appellations, including: Chateauneuf du Pape, Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Rhone Village. The vines of Domaine de la Janasse are planted on different soils and some are very old, up to 90 years old. The fruit from these old vines is used to produce Janasse Cuvee Vieilles Vinges, the estate's speciality. Domaine de la Janasse produces wines in the new style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines. Since 1993, the winery has been destemming the grapes from the harvest. This practice has continued and to date at least 80% of the berries are destemmed before fermentation. The Grenache is fermented in stainless steel tanks; the Mourvedre and Syrah are fermented in short conical oak barrels. Grenache is matured in large oak barrels; Mourvedre and Syrah are matured in a mixture of new French oak barrels and large oak barrels, which can add a new and trendy style to their wines.
