Talk about a bit of Chateauneuf magic! Domaine de la Solitude have produced three incredible red wines in 2016. Below we have the historic Vin de Solitude - an unbelievably inspired release. At the right we have our special barrel select Cuvee Grand Millesime and the new Cuvee Cornelia Constanza both produced from 100% Grenache.
All three wines are from the 2016 vintage - destined to become a Rhone classic.
The wines will arrive in Australia in a month's time and quantities available of the Vin de Solitude and Cornelia Constanza are tiny. If you fancy some great Chateauneuf for the cellar you must consider all three. You may mix and match as you wish.
Don't miss the last 14 bottles of the gorgeous Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2016 at the bottom right.
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Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vin de la Solitude 2016
Back in 2016 a discussion between Florent Lancon, of Domaine de la Solitude, and the French wine critic Michael Bettane was the catalyst for an incredible wine cuvee.
Domaine de la Solitude is one of the oldest estates in Chateauneuf du Pape, tracing its history back to the 13th century with no less than a Pope in the family tree! It has been run by the Lancon family for many decades and was one of the first domaines to estate-bottle.
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Original Vin de la Soliude labels |
The idea was to produce a wine as a tribute to their ancestor Paul Martin, who was one of the first French vignerons to sell his wine in bottle in the 18th century under the name "Vin de la Solitude".
Records at the domaine showed that blends at that time were very different. Whilst Grenache is the workhorse of Chateauneuf-du-Pape in the 21st century, hundreds of years ago, things were very different.
Florent modeled the new wine on the old blend of 30% Counoise, 25% hundred year-old Grenache noir, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 5% Clairette, 5% Bourboulenc, 5% Roussanne, Clairette rose and Grenache blanc. Two things are immediately obvious - the wine contains a huge amount of the rare Counoise grape (less than 0.5% of Chateauneuf is planted to this variety) and quite a portion of white grapes, still allowed in Chateauneuf but only used by a few producers.
Counoise is a dark-skinned grape that does not produce a lot of colour or tannin. It is used by domaines, including Chateau Beaucastel, to add spiciness and acidity. The presence of white grapes add a lightness and freshness.
All grapes were co-fermented and vinified as whole clusters (as an aside Florent has a great interest in Burgundy winemaking techniques). The wine was vinified in tronconic wood vats. Each grape variety was harvested at its own maturity, the first variety being the Syrah, picked in early September, and the last being the Counoise, picked in early October. The alcoholic fermentation was very long. For this new cuvee the wine was macerated for 80 days and aged for 18 months in old barrels.
I have been very fortunate to taste the wine twice on its journey - the first time in March 2017 at Prowein and again at the domaine. I have to say it is one of the most exciting wines I can recall.
In keeping with the old character of the vintage the 750ml version wine has been bottled in heavy old style glass with a rendition of the original label for Vin de la Solitude. The top of each bottle is hand waxed.
There are only 1000 bottles of this wine for the world and they will only be available in a specially made 3-bottle wooden case befitting such a prestige release.
I should also add that the 2016 vintage is being described as the greatest of the last 30 years.
With only 1000 bottles produced we have a very limited quantity to sell and we have already sold a large portion of our allocation. If you wish to secure some bottles please act quickly. The Wooden Case of 3 bottles is available at a 15% Pre Arrival Discount.
Stop Press! We also have more of the Rare Magnums. Only 100 of these have been produced!
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