2024 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Chateauneuf Du Pape Cuvee De Mon Aieul PRERATING
A beautiful wine in the making with a deeper ruby hue, the 2024 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée De Mon Aïeul comes from the Les Serres, La Crau, and Guigasse lieux-dits and is all resting in used demi-muids. It offers ripe black berries, assorted darker berries, sappy herbs, and sappy flowers on the nose. It’s medium to full-bodied, has a graceful, layered mouthfeel, and ripe tannins. There won’t be a reserve in 2024, as they felt the vintage didn’t allow them to deliver the quality of style of that cuvée, but this certainly appears to be a beautiful wine.
One of the leading estates (as well as a personal favorite) in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is Domaine Pierre Usseglio, which is run by brothers Thierry and Jean-Pierre Usseglio, with the next generation of Gregory Usseglio now taking a larger and larger role. They farm roughly 60 hectares and produce a wide range of wines, including a Vin de France L’Unique (which replaced their Côtes du Rhône), a terrific Lirac in both red and white, and several Châteauneuf-du-Papes. The Première Pierre is the classic cuvée (75% Grenache with Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault), and there’s also the fun and eclectic Clos No 18, which includes all 18 permitted varieties… it’s never my favorite but always fun to taste. The two flagship cuvées are the Mon Aïeul (100% Grenache from Les Serres, Guigasse, and La Crau, vinified with whole clusters and aged in neutral demi-muids) and the Reserve des Deux Frères (100% Grenache from old vines, aged entirely in new barrels). These are two brilliant yet dramatically different expressions of Grenache. The 2023s are spectacular, with both the Mon Aïeul and Reserve reminding me slightly of the domaine’s 2006s (which are brilliant). The family opted not to produce their Reserve des Deux Frères cuvée in 2024, yet certainly the Mon Aïeul showed well.
— Jeb Dunnuck (10/6/2020)
© 2020 Jeb Dunnuck | Reprinted with Permission
Jeb Dunnuck 2024
