A beautiful wine in the making with a deeper ruby hue, the 2024 Ch\u00e2teauneuf Du Pape Cuv\u00e9e De Mon A\u00efeul 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 cuv\u00e9e, but this certainly appears to be a beautiful wine.
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\nOne of the leading estates (as well as a personal favorite) in Ch\u00e2teauneuf-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 C\u00f4tes du Rh\u00f4ne), a terrific Lirac in both red and white, and several Ch\u00e2teauneuf-du-Papes. The Premi\u00e8re Pierre is the classic cuv\u00e9e (75% Grenache with Syrah, Mourv\u00e8dre, and Cinsault), and there’s also the fun and eclectic Clos No 18, which includes all 18 permitted varieties\u2026 it’s never my favorite but always fun to taste. The two flagship cuv\u00e9es are the Mon A\u00efeul (100% Grenache from Les Serres, Guigasse, and La Crau, vinified with whole clusters and aged in neutral demi-muids) and the Reserve des Deux Fr\u00e8res (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 A\u00efeul and Reserve reminding me slightly of the domaine’s 2006s (which are brilliant). The family opted not to produce their Reserve des Deux Fr\u00e8res cuv\u00e9e in 2024, yet certainly the Mon A\u00efeul showed well.<\/p>\n
\u2014 Jeb Dunnuck (10\/6\/2020)
\n\u00a9 2020 Jeb Dunnuck | Reprinted with Permission<\/p>\n