Château Cabrières Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge L’Esprit 2012
Grape Varietals & Region: A blend of 13 grape varietals: 50% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 10% Cinsault and the remaining 10% is small percentages of Vaccarèse, Counoise, Muscardin, Picpoul, Picardan, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Roussanne and Terret Noir.
The Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation (3200 hectares) extends over 5 municipalities: Orange, Bédarrides, Courthézon, Sorgues and of course Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The vineyard of Château Cabrières is located on one of the plateaus characteristic of the appellation in the commune of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The nature of the soil is clay-limestone mixed with pebbles, which is an excellent terroir for the vines.
Taste Profile: Château Cabrières Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge L’Esprit is a clean and bright red wine. Intense ruby colour with a purple robe. Ripe blackberry fruit, leather and subtle caramel aromas fill the nose. Powerful and full-bodied in the mouth with distinctive tannins. The aromas follow through to the palate where they linger with a long persistence.
The harvest is exclusively manual when the fruit reaches optimum ripeness. Three rounds of selective sorting in order to keep only the best grapes. Vinification is done separately by grape variety and by plot. After a 4-week vatting period with pumping over, racking and punching down followed by malolactic fermentation, the wines are blended and undergo a light filtration before ageing for 12 months in Allier oak barrels.
