Clos de l'Oratoire des Papes Les Chorégies 2012

A red Châteauneuf-du-Pape from outstanding terroirs

The estate

Named after the oratory located below its very first plot, L’Oratoire des Papes has embodied for nearly 150 years a timeless alliance of pleasure and prestige. Showcasing the purest, most contemporary expression of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s four signature soil types, these wines are renowned for their elegance far beyond France’s borders.

The wine

The Clos de L’Oratoire des Papes Les Chorégies collection, produced in red and white, stems from a selection of exceptional plots in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Sourced from old-vine parcels planted on rounded pebbles for the reds, these wines reveal a concentration of elegance, tension and generosity.

The vineyard

One of the key distinctive features of Châteauneuf-du-Pape lies in the richness and diversity of its soils, shaped by three distinct geological periods. Here you’ll find limestone fragments, rounded pebbles, safres and red sandstone. True to this diversity, the estate embraces a terroir-respectful approach, applying organic farming principles in the vineyard and favoring a low-intervention winemaking style in the cellar, in order to preserve the authenticity and singularity of the terroirs.

Vinification and aging

Les Chorégies red is vinified exclusively in 18 hL foudres. The harvest, carried out mostly as whole clusters, benefits from the elongated shape of the foudres, providing a broad exchange surface between the must and the skins during fermentation. After fermentation, the skins remain submerged to gently extend extraction through an infusion process. The tannins, ripe and supple, are naturally released over the course of a 5 to 7 week maceration.

The base components of the blend are aged for 12 months in foudres, 300-liter barrels and amphorae, in proportions determined by the vintage, then for 6 months in concrete vats and 18 months in bottle.

Blend

Grenache
Mourvèdre