Deep crimson color. Ripe, dark berries with spices.Rich and complex with a harmonious finish.
Wine Advocate 89 points - The Vieux Lazaret 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape has outstanding potential. An identical blend of 70% Grenache and the rest equal parts Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault from 40-year-old vines, aged in a combination of concrete and oak barrels, it has a dense ruby/purple color and impressively ripe black cherry and black raspberry fruit, with some blackberry even making an appearance. Full-bodied, impressively rich, pure, and opulently textured, it is a hedonistic, seductive Chateauneuf du Pape fruit bomb to drink over the next decade. (Oct 2010)
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Domaine du Vieux Lazaret is a 250 acre estate in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Modern winemaking techniques coupled with rigorous selection produces harmonious, ready to drink, generous fruit forward wines. The Domaine’s owner, Jerome Quiot, has led many professional organizations in the wine business and he and his family continue to champion terroir-driven, quality wines that represent excellent value and have broad appeal.
Technical notes
A blend of 13 grape varieties, mostly Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault. The 35+ year old vines are planted on soils with rolled pebbles, stony terraces with sand and gravel sub-soils and clay soils formed from the limestone mother rock. Destemmed and fermented for 2-3 weeks in concrete vats with twice daily pump overs. Aged 18 months in vats and foudres (15%).
Producer
The vineyards of Domaine du Vieux Lazaret are spread over 90 hectares, split into 35 different parcels of vines throughout Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It is today amongst the largest domains in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with 80 hectares planted in red grape varieties and 10 planted with white grapes. The number of parcels enables the Domaine du Vieux Lazaret to give greater complexity to its wines due to the diversity of soils, grape types and differing ages of vines.
The red grapes varieties consists of 10 different grapes permitted in A.O.C. Châteauneuf-du-Pape with the dominant varieties being Grenache (70%), Syrah (15%), Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Domaine du Vieux Lazaret owns a parcel where all the grapes allowed are present. The white varieties used for Domaine du Vieux Lazaret are Grenache Blanc (50%), Clairette (25%), Bourboulenc (20%) and Roussanne (5%). Vines are planted with a maximum of 4 000 per hectare. The average is about 40 years, but two parcels have been planted more than 90 years ago.
The vines are planted on three different type of soil :
The "galets" which are large, heavy rounded stones traditionally found in Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards.
Quartz rock, witch retains the heat of the sun during the days to continue to warm the vines during the night.
The underlying soil composed of layers of clay, small stones, sand, gravel and chalk / limestone rock.
The viticultural practices are strictly controlled and follow those traditions practiced for many generations.
The pruning is only done by those vineyard workers who are extremely experienced, and follow the strict rules of the appellation, with some vines trained on wires and others trained low on the ground.
The soil in the vineyard is regularly worked to allow proper aeration, with regular application of compost, and other treatments to maintain the best organic level and condition of the soil.
Harvesting of the grapes is done entirely by hand, with very strict selection of the best grapes to enhance the quality of the Domaine du Vieux Lazaret wine. This limits the maximum production, under the A.O.C laws, to 35 hectoliters per hectare.
