Chene Bleu Heloise 2012
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Robert
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Winemaker Notes
A deep, brilliant crimson color. Complex with aromas of truffle, dark fruits and blackberries with fragrant hints of violet. On the palate, complex yet balanced, both fresh and intense, and voluptuous. Very long on the palate, with lingering notes of dark fruits and truffle.
A generous and intense wine with strong aging potential, ideally suited to lamb, red meat and roasted vegetables. Decant for 2-3 hours and serve at room temperature.
Blend: 65% Syrah, 31% Grenache Noir, 4% Roussanne
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 65% Syrah, 31% Grenache and 4% Roussanne, the 2012 IGP Vaucluse Heloise spent 18 months in oak prior to blending and bottling. Hints of sweaty leather and scorched meat combine with black olives and raspberries on the nose, while the palate is medium to full-bodied, supple and concentrated, with a long finish. Overall, it does a lovely job marrying fruity and savory elements and bringing them together in a silk-wrapped package.
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Wine Spectator
This offers up a deep well of warm, crushed plum, açai and blackberry fruit flavors that glide over hints of loam, sage and menthol, all backed by a lingering licorice root note on the fleshy finish. Distinctive. Syrah, Grenache and Roussanne. Drink now through 2025.
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Wine &
Spirits
Blessed with a confluence of natural factors, Chêne Bleu has the benefit of an exceptional location, multifaceted geology, and a southern Rhone climate with soils more typical of the northern Rhone. The remarkable 340-acre estate had functioned as a working vineyard since the Middle Ages but was left untended for the majority of the 20th century, leaving the buildings in ruins. Xavier and Nicole Rolet purchased the property in 1993, enchanted by the secluded location of the vineyard and the history of the ancient monastery on site that had been built nearly 1,000 years ago. A decade of meticulous work was required to restore the priory and nurture the neglected vineyards back to biodynamic health. With time, each small improvement in the vineyard was seen to be rewarded ten-fold with qualitative results. The high-altitude vineyards benefit from warm daytime sun and cool nights allowing a longer, gradual ripening season. Grapes are picked up to five weeks later than the surrounding valley floor. The resulting wines embody the aromas and flavor of southern Rhone, together with the finesse and elegance of northern Rhone and the aging potential of the region’s finest AOCs.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
A long and narrow valley producing flavorful red, white, and rosé wines, the Rhône is bisected by the river of the same name and split into two distinct sub-regions—north and south. While a handful of grape varieties span the entire length of the Rhône valley, there are significant differences between the two zones in climate and geography as well as the style and quantity of Rhône wines produced. The Northern Rhône, with its continental climate and steep hillside vineyards, is responsible for a mere 5% or less of the greater region’s total output. The Southern Rhône has a much more Mediterranean climate, the aggressive, chilly Mistral wind and plentiful fragrant wild herbs known collectively as ‘garrigue.’
In the Northern Rhône, the only permitted red variety is Syrah, which in the appellations of St.-Joseph, Crozes-Hermitage, Hermitage, Cornas and Côte-Rôtie, it produces velvety black-fruit driven, savory, peppery red wines often with telltale notes of olive, game and smoke. Full-bodied, perfumed whites are made from Viognier in Condrieu and Château-Grillet, while elsewhere only Marsanne and Roussanne are used, with the former providing body and texture and the latter lending nervy acidity. The wines of the Southern Rhône are typically blends, with the reds often based on Grenache and balanced by Syrah, Mourvèdre, and an assortment of other varieties. All three northern white varieties are used here, as well as Grenache Blanc, Clairette, Bourbelenc and more. The best known sub-regions of the Southern Rhône are the reliable, wallet-friendly Côtes du Rhône and the esteemed Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Others include Gigondas, Vacqueyras and the rosé-only appellation Tavel.