Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine de la Solitude 2024
James Suckling 95
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Why this wine
The estate's flagship red, from galet-strewn vineyards held to just 30 hectolitres per hectare and raised mostly in concrete so the fruit stays clear. Ripe and generous at 15% but finished with a soft, elegant texture rather than weight for its own sake. A classical Châteauneuf from one of the appellation's oldest families.
At a glance
- Grape
- Grenache Noir 60%, Syrah 15%, Mourvèdre 15%, Cinsault 5%, Counoise 5%
- Region
- Rhône Valley, France
- Alcohol
- 15.00%
- Body
- Full
- Acidity
- Medium
- Tannins
- Medium
- Sweetness
- Dry
- Drink
- Long (10-20 yrs)
- Pairs with
- Red Meat, Poultry & Pork, Cheese
How it tastes
Ripe blackcurrant and cherry with cocoa, garrigue herbs and cistus flowers, and a hint of liquorice on the finish. Full-bodied but soft in texture, the tannins velvety rather than firm, with moderate acidity and a long, elegant close. Grenache Noir 60%, Syrah 15%, Mourvèdre 15%, Cinsault 5%, Counoise 5%.
The producer
Wine has been made on this estate for several hundred years, since the Lançon family arrived from Italy in 1264 to serve the pope in Avignon; the three hats on the label stand for two bishops and a pope among their forebears, and the 38-hectare domaine is run today by Florent Lançon. The vineyard is one of the best-sited in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, thick with the rounded quartzite stones of the Villafranchian period that absorb the day's heat and release it overnight, and it is held to just 30 hectolitres per hectare and certified by Terra Vitis for its work on biodiversity. The hand-picked bunches were sorted, destemmed and moved by gravity into concrete tanks, macerated for around 30 days with wild yeasts to draw out velvety tannins, then matured for 15 months, roughly a tenth in barrels, demi-muids and foudres and the rest in concrete, before bottling without fining or filtration.
Food and drinking
Serve at 16-18°C. It goes with roast lamb, beef short rib, a herb-rubbed pork shoulder or a board of washed-rind and hard cheeses. Drinking well now and over the next three to five years; an hour in a decanter is worthwhile. Suitable for vegetarians and vegans.