Domaine La Barroche Liberty 2017

Variety: 55 % Grenache, 12 % Mourvedre, 18 % Syrah, 10 % Cinsault 5 % Carignan
Country, Region: France, Rhone Valley
Appellation: Vin de France (Chateauneuf de Gadagne)

55 % Grenache, 18 % Syrah, 12 % Mourvèdre, 10 % Cinsault and 5 % Carignan, from Yannick Alliaud’s 50 year-old vines beside Châteauneuf de Gadagne, just 20km south-east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Yannick is the 5th generation to work his families vines growing on plio-quaternary terraces covered with river stones over red and blue clay similar to Chateauneuf’s La Crau plateau. De-stemmed, macerated on skins for more than 4 weeks and fermented in concrete tanks. Matured in old oak casks and 600 litre demi-muids for 18 months. Unfined and unfiltered.

‘Bottled in May, the 2017 Liberty Vin de France is a stellar effort, coming close in quality to the estate's Châteauneuf du Pape. It's a blend of declassified Châteauneuf fruit with old-vine material from the village of Gadagne, in the Côtes du Rhône. Dark berry and cherry flavors pick up hints of dried spices in this full-bodied, velvety-textured wine. It lacks the elegance of the CdP wines, but it delivers plenty of flavor and pleasure.’ 92 points, Joe Czerwinski, RobertParker.com, August 2019.

'[Barroche] ‘Pure’ is as close to a great vintage of Rayas as one will find.' Robert Parker Jr, The Wine Advocate.

Whilst this small estate is relatively new to estate bottling (first vintage 2003) in the list of producers of Chateauneuf, the Barrot family that owns these 12.5 hectares of Chateauneuf-du-Pape have been established in the village since about 1400. The average age of the vines at La Barroche is 60 years old and one third of the vineyards are more than 100 years old (Grenache). Most of the vineyards of the estate are located in the north and north-east of the appellation with just a few plots located close to the town of Chateauneuf-du-Pape on the southern side.

Vinification here is classic with cement tanks used for fermentation and a mixture of cement and large foudres used for elevage of the Grenache based components and smaller oak used for the ageing of Syrah and Mourvedre based components. In the cellar wine is moved by gravity and done according to the lunar calendar and weather patterns. The wines of La Barroche are modern in the best sense, clean, pure and brilliant.