2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Deux Freres
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Tasting notes
The 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Reserve des Deux Freres is more backward and structured, yet offers serious amounts of darker fruits, currants, smoked herbs, roasted meats and licorice aromas and flavors. Like the Cuvée Mon Aïeul, this cuvée sees plenty of stems, yet they’re beautifully integrated and balanced by masses of fruit. Full-bodied, concentrated, incredibly well textured and balanced, with bright acidity, forget bottles for 4-5 years and enjoy over the following 15-20 years. This estate hasn’t missed a beat in the past decade (or more) and their 2015s and 2016s both check-in near the top of the pyramid. It’s worth noting that this estate has started including slightly more stems than in the past while pulling back on the new barrels. Nevertheless, this is one estate who’s wines handle their oak elevage beautifully. They’ve also created a new white special cuvee based on Grenache Blanc and Clairette, and it’s a terrific wine worth seeking out (although I don’t know the price point).
Critic scores
Average Score
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
Jancis Robinson MW
More reviews and scores
A cellar selection aged in barriques, one-third of which are new, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des 2 Freres combines cedar and vanilla aromas with red raspberries to create a rich, creamy, full-bodied wine with huge concentration and impressive length. It's hard not to like this, despite the obvious oak and alcoholic warmth.
(half aged in new and used barriques , 25 percent in new and used demi-muids and the rest in concrete tanks) Opaque ruby. A complex, expansive bouquet evokes ripe dark berries, candied flowers, vanilla and woodsmoke, and a suave Indian spice nuance builds in the glass. Broad and seamless in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated blackberry, cherry cola and violet pastille flavors and a sweetening mocha flourish. Closes extremely long and sappy; smooth, sneaky tannins shape the lush dark fruit.
100% Grenache. Partial whole-bunch fermentation at 25 °C in concrete tanks, followed by ageing in new barriques (80%) and demi-muids (20%). pH 3.7, TA 3.4 g/l. Tasted blind. Blackish crimson. Heady combination of extreme ripeness and floral notes. Polished wine in the (old-style) ‘modern’ idiom. Lots of winemaking work has gone in to soften the tannins. For hedonists and those to whom texture is more important than flavour. Though it does fall away a little bit on the end. (JR)
About the producer
Product details
Grenache/ Garnacha , Syrah / Shiraz, Mourvedre/Monastrell/Mataro, Cinsault, Bourboulenc
Red
Dry