DOMAINE DE LA SOLITUDE The Cellar

CHATEAUNEUF DU PAPE TRADITION ROUGE 2001

Diplôme d'honneur, Festival of St Mark Tasting Competition 2003, Châteauneuf-du-Pape      CLASSIFICATION Red wine - AOC Châteauneuf-du-Pape PRODUCTION AREA Vines grown at our Domaine de la Solitude vineyards at Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The 2001 vintage was characterised by an exceptional maturity and cleanliness of the fruit. AVERAGE YIELD 35 hectolitres per hectare SOIL COMPOSITION Rounded quartzite stones from the Villafranchian period conferring on this domaine one of the best terroirs of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. They absorb heat during the day then radiate it at night, ensuring full grape maturity is reached. GRAPE VARIETIES 55% Grenache Noir, 25% Sarah, 15%Mourvedre, 5% Cinsault. CLIMATE Mediterranean, with mild winters, low rainfall and hot summers. The dominant wind is the Mistral. HARVEST By hand, at the appropriate time for each grape variety to be at full maturity, based on grape tastings by our expert panel. The grape bunches are then carefully sorted to remove any unwanted fruit. VINIFICATION After careful crushing and destemming, the must passes to our vats for maceration and fermentation. These processes take about one month at carefully controlled temperatures with both daily pumping over and hand plunging of the cap. The resultant product is then pressed, and the free-run juice is separated from the press juice in order to be aged separately. Malolactic fermentation follows shortly after - for the wine to be aged in barrels, this fermentation will occur in those barrels. AGEING Each parcel and grape variety is aged separately either in small concrete, stainless steel or resin vats, with 10% aged in oak barrels (1/3 new, 2/3 of 1 wine). After 18 months, the wine is assembled carefully following the expert guidance of our testing panel. TASTING NOTES Intense colour of ruby with violet undertones. Powerful nose, this is a fine but rich wine. Fine aromas of jammy fruit (blackcurrant and blackberry) dominate, with spicy undertones of pepper and nutmeg. Rich and powerful on the mouth, with a long persistence. SUGGESTED FOOD ASSOCIATIONS An excellent accompagnment to grilled meats, daube of beef provencale, asian cuisine (especially sweet and sour), game meats, and cheeses. WINEMAKERS COMMENTS Drink now through 2007 Service temperature: 16 to 18°C AVAILABILITY In bottles of 75 cl Packed in cartons of 12 bottles

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	EARL DOMAINES PIERRE LANÇON
	Domaine de la Solitude - BP 21 84231 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cedex - France Tél. 04 90 83 71 45 Télécopie 04 90 83 51 34 e-mail: solitude@mnet.fr