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More wines available from M. Chapoutier
750ml
Bottle:
$35.60
All Viognier, the 2020 Vin De France Esteban Blanc is a juicy, medium-bodied, delicious sparkler that has quality...
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M. Chapoutier Chateauneuf Du Pape Barbe Rac 2008
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$135.23
This shows some of the vintage's raisinlike edge and slightly angular acidity, but the core of mulled damson plum,...
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M. Chapoutier Chateauneuf Du Pape Barbe Rac 2015
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$111.60
The 2015 Châteauneuf-Du-Pape Barbe Rac comes from a single vineyard on the western side of the appellation. Made...
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M. Chapoutier Chateauneuf Du Pape Barbe Rac 2017
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$94.28
The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Barbe Rac is brilliant and up there with some of the finest vintages to date of this...
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M. Chapoutier Chateauneuf Du Pape Barbe Rac 2018
750ml - 1 Bottle
Bottle:
$79.12
I’d put the 2018 Châteauneuf du Barbe Rac up against anything in this vintage. Coming from 100% Grenache brought...
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Winery
M. Chapoutier
Vintage: 2012
2012 has, so far been a positive year for wineries around the world. While it may be a little too early to speak of the wines being made in the northern hemisphere, European and North American wineries have already begun reporting that their harvesting season has been generally very good, and are predicting to continue with the kind of successes they saw in 2011. However, 2012 has been something of a late year for France, due to unpredictable weather throughout the summer, and the grapes were ripening considerably later than they did in 2011 (which was, admittedly, an exceptionally early year). French wineries are claiming, though, that this could well turn out to be advantageous, as the slow ripening will allow the resulting wines to express more flavour and features of the terroir they are grown in.
The southern hemisphere has seen ideal climatic conditions in most of the key wine producing countries, and Australia and New Zealand particularly had a superb year, in particular with the Bordeaux varietal grapes that grow there and which love the humidity these countries received plenty of. Also enjoying a fantastic year for weather were wineries across Argentina and Chile, with the Mendoza region claiming that 2012 will be one of their best vintages of the past decade. Similar claims are being made across the Chilean wine regions, where Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon had an especially good year. These two grape varietals also produced characterful wines on the coastal regions of South Africa this year.
Region: Rhone Valley
For over two thousand years, the southern French region of the Rhone Valley has been home to wine-makers and wineries of many different types. The ancient Greeks were the first to discover that a wide range of grape varietals can flourish in the rich soils and micro-climates which typify the region, and little has changed to this day. In the modern age, the Rhone Valley is recognized around the world as the home of excellent quality white, red and rosé wines, as well as some of the most highly respected blended wines on earth. The region is split into two distinctive sub-regions, with the cooler, continental northern sub-region producing primarily Syrah, Marsanne, Roussane and Viognier wines of exquisite quality, and the hotter southern sub-region growing a much wider variety of grapes.
Country: France
French winemakers are subjected to several laws and regulations regarding the wines they produce, and how they can be labeled and sold. Such procedures are designed to increase the overall quality of the country's produce, and also to ensure that wines made in each particular region or appellation are of a character and type which is representative of the area. Thankfully for consumers of wine world-wide, the French have a particularly high reputation to uphold, and seem to do so flawlessly. Every year, wineries from all over France produce millions upon millions of bottles of fine wine, making the most of their native grape varieties and the excellent terrain which covers most of the country. From the expensive and exquisite red wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy, to the white wines and cremants of central France, the French are dedicated to providing the world with wines of the highest quality and most distinctive character.