DOMAINE LA BARROCHE Julien Barrot, Chateauneuf-du-Pape

https://s3-ap-northeast-1.amazonaws.com/orchestracms/eosportal/pdf/tasting-notes/chateauneuf-saintes-pierres-de-nalys-blanc-2019.pdf

Forest floor aromas, fruit and minerality are a welcome sign we are in the south of Priorat. Sensations which make us re-live a springtime stroll through Mediterranean woodland. Intense and fresh, balanced with some silkiness which is characteristic of Mas d’en Gil wines.

Old vines, the most precise representation of Mas d’en Gil terroir. Clos Fontà concentrates black fruit and minerality in a complex wine. It is the fruit of observation, the passing of time and the will to feel, meditate and recount. It epitomises this unque landscape.

This is drawn from two parcels on the steep, granitic slopes of Saint-Jean-de-Muzols, the historic heart of Saint-Joseph that lies opposite the hill of Hermitage. Three-quarters of the blend comes from 1980s planted Syrah, while the remainder of the vines were planted in the 1950s. Both parcels are organically farmed without herbicides by the Desbos family, and both lie on steep gradients that necessitate work by hand and horse only. In the cellar, the winemakers work with around 20 to 30% whole bunches, and the wine matures for one year in used ex-Burgundy 228-litre oak casks for 11 months, followed by six months in tronconique. Bottled unfiltered, it’s a layered, deep, rocky style of St-Jo, with taut red and blue fruits complemented by crushed stone, dried dark flowers and iron filing nuances.

Destemmed and tipped into a tonne fermenter. Gentle pump over and slow extraction until full dryness. Only the free run was placed into a 3 year old French oak barrel. Soft palate with extremely precise and thin tannins that caress and carry on the freshness and intensity.

The Torbreck Les Amis Grenache is aged for 18 months in new oak and is a remarkably fragrant wine that shows abundant aromas of spice, cherry and wild raspberry. Textured and plush on the palate, it evolves into layers of blackberry and red currants with firm, ripe tannins. David Powell continues to lead this formidable Barossa wine estate to truly remarkable heights.