Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf du Pape “Tradition”

Description

Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf du Pape is one of the most famous wineries in the Chateauneuf du Pape wine-growing appellation with an extremely long history of winemaking at the estate dating back to the 13th Century.

Winemaking at Domaine de la Solitude began in 1264 when the Italian Barberini family arrived from Tuscany to serve the pope in Avignon. Eventually, a daughter of the family, renamed Barberin to sound more French, married into the Martin family, winemakers in the area. The Martin family were the first to sell the wine as “Vin de la Solitude”, way before Chateauneuf du Pape existed.

Today their descendants, the Lancon Family, still own and manage the estate. Brothers Jean and Michel Lancon are in the process of handing over the reins of the business to Michel’s son, Florent. Florent is an innovator who also respects the centuries of tradition at the estate. Recently Florent has acquired some tulip-shaped concrete vats which were initially designed for Cheval Blanc and are at the cutting edge of wine-making technology.

Domaine de la Solitude comprises some 38 hectares in the Châteauneuf du Pape appellation. It has some of the best terroirs in the region with the soils with an abundance of rounded quartzite stones from the Villafranchian period. These famous vineyard stones absorb heat during the day then radiate it at night, promoting full grape maturity.

The grapes for Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge are hand harvested and then at the winery, following a selection of the best bunches, the grapes were meticulously sorted, destemmed and gently crushed, before entering concrete fermentation tanks via gravity. The grape must was macerated for approximately 30 days, with a gentle extraction to obtain velvety tannins. Approximately 10% of the wine was aged in oak barrels and demi-muids (6o0L) for 15 months, 90% is aged in concrete vats.

Domaine de la Solitude Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge 2021 is a blend of 60% Grenache Noir, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, 5% Counoise and 5% comprise of Cinsault, Terret Noir, Muscardin and Vaccarèse

This wine is suitable for vegetarians and vegans. It is also organic certified.

What Grape Varieties Can be Used in Chateauneuf du Pape?

It always used to be a well-known fact in the wine world that, traditionally, wines from Chateauneuf du Pape could be produced from a blend of up to 13 different grape varieties. In fact, since the Chateauneuf du Pape AOC rules were rewritten in 2009, there are 18 varieties permitted with white, pink and black varieties of the same grape now listed separately. Both red and white grape varieties can be used in both the red and the wines.

The 18 grapes are Cinsault, Counoise, Grenache noir, Mourvèdre, Muscardin, Piquepoul noir, Syrah, Terret noir, and Vaccarèse (Brun Argenté). White and pink varieties are Bourboulenc, Clairette blanche, Clairette rose, Grenache blanc, Grenache gris, Picardan, Piquepoul blanc, Piquepoul gris, and Roussanne.