This wine is essentially a blend of Syrah and Merlot with a little bit of Grenache and Cabernet Sauvignon thrown in for good luck. The grapes come form a vineyard site called La Bussiere which lies to the east of the village of Courthezon. The Syrah and Merlot grapes are Vinified separately in tank and then aged in small barrels (30% of which were new) for twelve months before being blended and bottled. The resulting wine is medium-full bodied with wonderful flavours of red and black berries, chocolate and spice. The 2006 is drinking superbly well now and would go perfectly with a rib-eye steak or some slow cooked belly of pork.

About Domaine de la Janasse

Domaine de la Janasse, situated to the north-east of Châteauneuf du Pape in the satellite town of Courthézon, is run by the Sabon family. This large estate's Châteauneuf du Pape's holdings are in predominantly two of the best communes of the appellation, Bedarrides and Courthézon. Here we have different soils, ranging from heavy clay/stone in the north east to sandy soils in the south east and these soil types coupled with the cooler exposure of these vineyards allows La Janasse to produce fruit that is rich and concentrated yet well balanced by naturally hight acidity. Grenache predominates with a minimum of 80% in the basic Châteauneuf, 85% in the Vieilles Vignes and Chaupin being 100% Grenache from a parcel planted in 1920. Christophe Sabon, the son, adopts a more modern approach to winemaking, not so much with the vinification but more with the maturation where he likes to use a proportion of small, newer barrels as well as the traditional old oak casks. These are today some of the finest wines in the appellation allying power to finesse. The Côtes du Rhône Village is one of the smartest buys in the regions. It comes from a vineyard just across the N7 road from Château de Beaucastel – as Christophe Sabon says "Châteauneuf du Pape" has to end somewhere" – and is made from equal parts of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre and is a dead ringer for a Châteauneuf!

See also our 'Fine Wine & Magnums' page for more from this producer.

For more info visit http://www.lajanasse.com/