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Usseglio Collection Mixed Case, Domaine Pierre Usseglio 2015

Tasting Notes

*Grenache*- 96/97 points
Hands down my favorite was the 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Grenache (One Barrel), which is about as flamboyant a wine as I was able to taste from the vintage. All from la Crau, it offered killer notes of raspberries, Asian spices and garrigue, with a broad, expansive, incredibly hedonistic style on the palate. At the end of the tasting, I tried to buy the full barrel of the Grenache, but, alas, was turned down. Nevertheless, it was a fantastic cap to a great tasting!

*Ensemble*- 94/96 points
The 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Ensemble (One Barrel) is a mix of equal parts of the Cinsault, Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah, and like all of these One Barrel releases, has been aging in an older barrel (all of the barrels were from 2010). It had more red fruit and spice than I was expecting, with lots of strawberry, raspberry, spice and hints of garrigue, as well as a seamless, expansive and downright sexy style on the palate.

*Mourvedre*- 93/95 points
The 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Mourvèdre (One Barrel) was completely destemmed and came from sandy soils near the village of Courthezon. It was the most tannic and square of the single varieties, with lots of darker fruits, cured meats and spice, as well as big, broad feel on the palate. The tannin is sweet and polished, but there’s a lot of them.

*Syrah*- 92/94 points
The 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Syrah (One Barrel) comes from the clay soils of the Maucoil lieu-dit and it’s a sexy, full-bodied Syrah that has classic blackberry, pepper and spice aromas and flavors. You’re not going to mistake it for a Côte Rôtie, but it’s impeccably balanced, has terrific tannin quality and a great finish.

*Cinsault*- 93 points
The 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Cinsault (One Barrel), which is from the Grand Pierre, les Serres and la Crau lieux-dits, it’s an incredibly sexy, layered and red fruit driven beauty, that has more richness and depth than just about any straight Cinsault cuvée I’ve tasted (which isn’t many). You can see the oak here, but it has fruit!

93/97
Jeb Dunnuck, JebDunnuck.com (227), October 2016
Please note that these tasting notes/scores are not intended to be exhaustive and in some cases they may not be the most recently published figures. However, we always do our best to add latest scores and reviews when these come to our attention. We advise customers who wish to purchase wines based simply on critical reviews to carry out further research into the latest reports.