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Chêne Bleu

IGP Vaucluse Abélard

74.7081.00

Deep purple colour. Rich and complex nose of blackberries and plum with notes of cedarwood and olives. Full-bodied on the palate with dark fruits, licorice and a touch of menthol and balanced with an endearing freshness. The tannins are silky through to its long finish. Best enjoyed after 7 years and can drunk up to 15 years from the vintage date.

Style: Red

Grape varieties:85% Grenache, 15% Syrah

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Red Wine Grape Varieties

Southern Rhône wines are almost always blended around Grenache to bring balance, complexity and richness of aroma to the wines. Thirteen varietals are permitted. The main varieties are:

Grenache – Medium ruby colour and high alcohol. Delightfully fruity (red fruits) in youth, spice: prune notes with age. Medium dry tannins that soften with age.

Syrah – Deep colour with purple shades. Very tight but velvety tannins giving good ageing potential. Violet and/ or black fruit aromas. With age the aromas evolves towards wild aromas of leather, truffle, and towards liquorice

Mourvèdre – Dark brick red, high tannin brings additional ageing quality to the blend. Sometimes animal notes in its youth become fruity (dark berries, leather, undergrowth, pine, liquorice) and spicy with age.

Cinsault – High proportion in Rosé. Elegant, fruity aromas, light colour and tannin (in reds).

White Wine Grape Varieties

Grenache Blanc – Low acidity giving smoothness and length on the palate with floral aromas and notes of apple and pear.

Clairette – Brings acidity and freshness to the blend. Floral, complex aromas of rose and acacia with notes of white peach and exotic fruit.

Roussanne – Brings finesse and delicacy and a great deal of elegance. Good acidity in the northern Rhône enabling the wine to age well. Complex aromas of honeysuckle with touches of apricot, hawthorn or narcissus.

Bourboulenc – Brings good acidity to the blend. Floral aromas.

Marsanne – Medium acidity, with high aromatic potential in young wines. Complex and subtle floral aromas of acacia, dried fruit and nuts (almond, hazelnut, walnut).

Viognier – Medium colour with low acidity and very fruity (pear) in the Southern Rhône. In the Northern Rhône, it brings suppleness and smoothness. Great aromatic potential – acacia, honeysuckle, violet, almond blossom, linden, and with age, musk, honey and dried apricot.

Terroir: Older vines located an altitude of over 500 metres bring excellent natural acidity to the wines. The soil is a very stony mix of clay and limestone.

Oak: Prominent

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Oak Flavours

The vast majority of wines in the Southern Rhône are aged in neutral tanks such as concrete and stainless steel in order to preserve the delightful fruity characteristics of Grenache. Where oak is used, it is often only used for a proportion of the blend. The majority of wines in the Northern Rhône however, are aged in oak.

The amount of oak flavour in the wine depends on:

  • The size of the barrel – Less surface area in contact with the wine = less oak flavour
  • The age of the barrel – Less oak is imparted in each subsequent wine.
  • The level of charring (“toast”) and type of oak used by the cooper

The following classifications are used for wines listed on this website:

No Oak – The wine is aged in neutral vats or large, old oak barrels that impart no oak flavours. These wines will be fruit-forward and bright in their early years.

Light Oak – Oak flavours are present but do not dominate the wine when young. The wine may only be partly aged in smaller oak barrels and/or the barrels may have been used for one to three prior wines.

Prominent Oak – Oak flavour is a noticeable feature of the wine, particularly when young. Oak also imparts oak tannins into the wine which can increase the ageing potential of the wine, thus allowing the wine to develop complex aromas over many years.

Drinking time: 6 to 15 years

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Drinking Time

The majority of everyday wines are produced to be drunk within a year, or two of their vintage date. Fine wines that demonstrate a balanced acidity and good tannin structure have the ability to be aged over many years. Oak flavours and red wine tannins soften with age, which allow more complex aromas to develop. Deciding when to drink a fine wine is very much a matter of personal taste. You should drink the wine earlier in its life if you prefer its fruity (“primary”) aromas, accepting that tannins and any oak flavours will be more prominent when the wine is young.

Reviews: RP 92-93 pts, JD 95 pts, WS 91 pts

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Reviews

The ratings of leading reviewers are listed here with their written comments detailed at the bottom of the page.

Remember that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”. Each wine reviewer has personal tastes and, as hard as they try, preferences can be reflected in the numerical score a reviewer gives to a wine. This is why is important to read their comments rather than judge a wine by its numerical score.

JR = Jancis Robinson. Score out of 20 points.
RP = Robert Parker, Wine Advocate. Score out of 100 points.
JD = Jeb Dunnuck. Score out of 100 points.
WS = Wine Spectator. Score out of 100 points.
W&S = Wine and Sprits. Score out of 100 points.
WE = Wine Enthusiast. Score out of 100 points.
VM = Vinous Media. Score out of 100 points.
JS= James Suckling. Score out of 100 points.

Shipping costs are calculated per box of 6 bottles. Each box can contain a mixed selection of wines.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate (RP)

2012 vintage (93 points): A blend of 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah, the 2012 IGP Vaucluse Abelard is nominally the more “masculine” of the two red cuvées. In fact, this vintage, the Abelard is softer and plusher, albeit slightly less complex. Smoky elements frame ripe black cherries on the nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate is ripe and supple, giving way to a velvety feel on the finish.

 

Jeb Dunnuck (JD)

2011 vintage (95 points): The 2011 Abelard is, as always, more Provençal in style and always reminds me of a top Gigondas. Based largely on Grenache, it boasts rocking notes of blackberries, black cherries, licorice, and black olives. This full-bodied 2011 has a ripe, sexy style, no hard edges, and perfect balance.

 

Wine Spectator (WS)

2012 vintage (91 points): Rich and broad in feel, with a lightly roasted edge to the mix of crushed plum, blackberry and raspberry fruit. Garrigue, singed alder and warm stone notes emerge steadily through the still-grippy finish. Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2024.

The vineyards covers four different wine classifications: AOC Ventoux, IGP, AOC Gigondas and AOC Côtes du Rhône Villages Séguret . The two top reds, Héloise and Abelard are produced from old vines plots which cross the different classification boundaries, so are labelled with the base classification, IGP. The vineyards are contiguously located around the property and surrounded by forest which provides the perfect scenario for organic viticulture. The property also incorporates biodynamic approaches to assist them in their goal of natural viticulture.

 

The winery is built into the slope which means gravity can be used to move the wine through some of its stages and thus reduce the need for pumping. The wines are fermented in a mixture of stainless steel and “foudres” (very large upright oak barrels) for the reds and stainless steel and/or smaller oak barrels for the whites and rosé. The two top reds are aged for up to three years in barriques (225 litre small oak barrels) and concrete.

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