Chateau Fortia Tradition Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2018
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Spectator
Wine
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Ruby red colour with blue reflections. Intense and frank nose, with ripe and fresh red fruits. Sweet spices, coriander. Tasty and delicious attack. The mid-palate is well in place, with richness and tension. The tannins are soft and well-integrated. Notes of ripe candied fruit, sweet pepper and licorice.
Blend: 40% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 40% Mourvèdre
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the reds and a total charmer, the 2018 Châteauneuf du Pape Tradition from Fortia sports a medium ruby, nearly translucent color to go with incredible Provençal aromas of dried cherries, dried strawberries, peppery garrigue, spice, and assorted floral nuances. It’s medium-bodied, clean, well-balanced, and already hard to resist. Enjoy bottles over the coming decade.
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Wine Spectator
Sleek and fresh, with bitter plum and red currant fruit notes that are tightly focused, while light sanguine, rose petal, red tea and mineral hints chime throughout. Not big, but nicely persistent.
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With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.