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Domaine de Cremone

Rasteau Cuvée Premier Violon (Magnum) 2015

19.00

Aged for two years in a combination of small, newish oak barrels, large oak casks and enamel vats. Beautiful clear garnet colour. Intense nose with notes of prune, spice and minerals. Medium-bodied with lovely fruit, freshness and spice. Very well balanced and a long finish.

Style: Red

Grape varieties:69 % Grenache, 12 % Syrah, 19 % Mourvèdre.

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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: All the vines, with the exception of the Syrah have a north-west exposure. Clay and limestone with many stones and a fairly steep slope for the Mourvèdre..

Oak: Light

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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: 2 to 14 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: VM 94 pts. See below.

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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.

Patrice Barbieri ran a transport company specialising in wine before he bought a somewhat neglected property with associated vineyards on the border between Cairanne and Rasteau in 2013. He runs the domaine with his son Thomas. The domaine name refers to the Italian city of Cremonde, the birthplace of Patrice’s father and the famous violin crafter Antonio Stradivari.

 

The family estate has 10 ha of vines on the slopes of Rasteau with a north-western exposure and 7 hectares on Cairanne. The appreciable proportion of old vines enables them to produce authentic wines with character. They have a deep respect for their land and their vines. The Grenache vines of Rasteau cru were planted in 1953, so they take great care of them – it is almost like love that they feel for them! The vines are not clones, evidenced by the fact that each vine grows different. No chemicals are used in the vineyard they have started working with an agronomist to analyse their terroirs and to guide them through all the steps to go biodynamic. Half of their vineyards are exposed to the North West and on the slopes, which gives great freshness to the wines. They favour manual work and only use copper and sulphur in the vineyard to combat fungal diseases. They weed their vines mechanically or manually.

 

They favour late harvesting to ensure full skin ripeness which give softer tannins. All the grapes are harvested by hand and only in cool temperatures of each morning. The grapes are sorted in the vineyard, harvested in boxes and then brought to the cellar in a refrigerated truck. The wines are vinified in a natural way without the addition of chemical products. They favour co-fermentation of the grapes varieties, where possible. The low yielding old vines provide concentrated wines, so they only use very gentle (grape skin) extraction methods on the reds in the cellar.

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