Region | |
---|---|
Subregion | France > Rhône > Southern Rhône > Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
Colour | Red |
Type | Still |
View all vintages of this wine | View all wines by Domaine de Pégau
The tiny production 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Da Capo is a powerhouse and unquestionably one of the top wines in the vintage. Compared to the 2010 by Laurence, it offers a stacked, full-bodied, incredibly concentrated feel as well as a blockbuster bouquet of blackcurrants, tapenade, cured meats, garrigue, and assorted Provençal street market-like aromas and flavors. It doesn’t have the sheer volume or flamboyant character of the 2016 (which I think is a better wine) but is deep, straight, and as classic as it gets. Hide bottles for 3-4 years, count yourself lucky, and enjoy them over the following 2-3 decades.
As I reported last year, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo is impressive. While it's less flamboyantly aromatic than the Cuvée Réservée, it's more powerful and concentrated. Full-bodied and rich, it's loaded with potent raspberry fruit and silky tannins and boasts a finish that won't stop. Hints of roasted meat, lavender and thyme add complexity to the waves of fruit, which wash gently across the palate, exhibiting a lovely soft touch. Drink Date 2020 - 2040
The 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de Capo is smoking good. Blackcurrants, lavender, garrigue, violets, cured meats and saddle leather all flow from this rich, unctuous, incredibly decadent 2015 that has sweet tannin, a huge mid-palate, and more concentration than just about every other wine in the vintage.
The flagship cuvée, which isn’t made in every vintage (when the Cuvee da Capo isn’t produced, Laurence normally releases a Cuvee Laurence), the 2015 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée da Capo is primarily Grenache, with 4% Mourvèdre, and the rest and assortment of varieties. It comes all from la Crau (a few different parcels), isn’t destemmed and there’s only a single foudre ever made in a vintage. Easily one of the wines of the vintage, it sports a deep, opaque purple color as well as thick, concentrated, unctuous notes of black cherries, caramelized meats, liquid smoke, pepper and charcuterie. Full-bodied and beautifully concentrated on the palate, with masses of sweet tannin, it reminds me of a slightly toned down 1998 as opposed to the more opulent 2000, 2003 or 2007.
Slated to be bottled in January 2018, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo is an impressively endowed wine by any measure. Aromas? Floral, fruity and spicy. Flavors? Black cherries and plums with hints of meat and licorice. Weight and texture? Ample and silky. Finish? Never-ending and nuanced. This big but balanced beauty should drink well for at least two decades. Drink Date 2020 - 2035