2015 Vintage Report – Chateauneuf du Pape & Ventoux
Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge
A long, dry and hot summer with some heat waves was followed by welcome rain at the end of August.
This refilled the shrunken grapes and reduced the alcohol content raised by concentration of the juice.
This enabled the grapes to reach phenolic maturity without high alcohol.
Great effort went in to scheduling picking in order to harvest each plot at the optimum moment
Though yields were reduced, thick skins caused great concentration and should result in exceptional quality
Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc
Starting with high yields,green harvesting began early.
It was an excellent year for the whites. with a long hang time for all varieties resulting in round ,rich and very aromatic wines.Splendid nose of citrus and pears. One of the very best years for the Whites.
Ventoux. Domaine du Vieux Lazaret
Similar conditions to Chateauneuf, but with even lower yields, due to the drought.
With a higher that usual percentage of Syrah, the wine is deep in color. powerful but well balanced.
A great vintage.