Clos de l'Oratoire des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape Les Choregies 2015
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Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
James
Suckling
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
The color is an intense dark cherry with delicate ruby flashes. The nose offers a selection of subtle notes (ripe red and vanilla fruit, followed by black pepper and fresh rosewood). The attack is full of fruit and spicy complexity bringing out the tannins and freshness. Fruit aromas complete the long finish.
Enjoy with caramelized spicy rabbit, duck, roasts or an autumn dish with mushrooms or truffles and game.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
This has a mature hint, with savory and minerally notes starting to emerge from the core, which is still held in check by a firm structure. Retains a well of dried cherry, red currant and garrigue elements in reserve, and this should unwind nicely with additional cellaring. Grenache and Syrah. Best from 2023 through 2032.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The most expensive release in the lineup is the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape les Chorégies. Made from 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah, aged in a mix of foudre, barrels and demi-muids, it has beautiful complexity in its darker berry fruits, spice, peppery herbs and licorice aromas and flavors. These carry to a full-bodied, elegant and seamless Chateauneuf du Pape that has solid mid-palate depth, fine tannin and lots of potential.
Range: 91-93 -
Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Chorégies is the special cuvée of the estate make from 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah. It offers more garrigue, pine resin, and garrigue aromatics, loads of black cherry and black raspberry fruit, ripe, present tannin and solid acidity. Give bottles a few years.
Range: 91-93 -
James Suckling
Impressive fruit power and weight. This has an array of dark berry and ripe raspberry fruits in an energetic, fleshy and evenly structured style.
Other Vintages
2019-
Jeb
Dunnuck
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Wine
Spectator -
Jeb
Dunnuck - Decanter
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James
Suckling - Decanter
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Jeb
Dunnuck -
Wine
Spectator
The story begins in 1880 when Edouard Amouroux became the owner of the Clos des Oratoriens, a fine vineyard parcel of Syrah vines in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It was named after the oratory beside the parcel at Tresquoy.
Located on a protected natural area, Le Prieuré (the winery and château) is an incredible building that is also the guardian of 9.8 acres of vineyards in Côtes-du-Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellations.
Over the years, the original vineyard of 49.5 acres has been enriched with new plots from the best terroirs of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, particularly parcels of sand (safres), limestone and red-sand stone to complete the initial blend. Today, total surface is 100 acres. Rolled pebbles bring a great generosity, the Safres provide a touch of elegance, the limestone chips diffuse a delicate minerality and red-sand stone roundness.
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.