Domaine du Vieux Lazaret Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2020
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Suckling
James
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Light yellow gold. Attractive, multifaceted aroma, youthful and moderately full, showing a mélange of quince and fennel complemented by a toasted note. The palate reveals more, notably ripe yellow fruits, spice and herbal highlights. At first open, the wine falls off slightly, then continues to reveal a persistent aromatic conclusion. Well-integrated acidity surfaces at the end together with a mouth-coating texture.
Professional Ratings
-
Wine Enthusiast
A penetrating strike of honey lends richness to zingy notes of tart nectarine and apricot in this bright-fruited wine. A blend of 45% Grenache Blanc, 30% Clairette, 20% Bourboulenc and just 5% barrel-fermented Roussanne, its fruit profile is scintillating and pure, accented by a hint of smoky, toasty perfume.
-
James Suckling
The nose of beeswax, lime zest and jasmine pulls you into this powerful, creamy but very clean and precise white Chateauneuf. Impressively long and finely nuanced finish.
Other Vintages
2021-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Spectator
Wine -
Spirits
Wine &
-
Enthusiast
Wine -
Parker
Robert
-
Spectator
Wine
-
Spectator
Wine
Harvesting of the grapes is done entirely by hand, with very strict selection of the best grapes to enhance the quality of the Domaine du Vieux Lazaret wine. This limits the maximum production, under the A.O.C laws, to 35 hectoliters per hectare.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.