CDP Cuvée Mon Aieul, Domaine Pierre Usseglio 2015

The 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de Mon Aïeul is another gorgeous wine from this family estate. As always it comes from three Grenache parcels: la Serres, La Crau and La Guigasse (there are 2 hectares in each parcel). In both 2015 and 2016 this cuvée wasn’t destemmed and was brought up mostly in tank, with 15-20% in demi-muids. The 2016 spent a huge 45 days on skins before being pressed to barrel. This beauty offers the fine, finesse-driven style of the vintage, yet has full-bodied depth and richness as well as sensational notes of framboise, crushed flowers, licorice, Christmas fruitcake and spice. It’s in the top handful of wines in the vintage and will benefit from short-term cellaring and have 20+ years of overall longevity.

Made from 100% Grenache (from the Grande Serres, la Crau and La Guigasse lieux-dits) and completely destemmed, the 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aïeul is still aging in a mix of old demi-muids, and it’s a wine Thierry compares to the 2006, which I think is a reasonable comparison.. Offering a big, rich, hedonistic style, with sweet tannin, full-bodied richness and classic ripe Grenache notes of black raspberries, melted licorice and roasted herbs, it’s already incredibly drinkable; I suspect it will remain that way for most of its life.