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2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc “Clos la Roquète”
Frédéric & Daniel Brunier
White wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape don’t have much of a reputation as a summer wine. I’ve never seen anyone with a bottle at the beach, or dropping ice cubes into a glass on a sunny terrace. It’s true they can often be quite rich, needing something equally rich and hearty for accompaniment. Thankfully, there are exceptions to every rule, and this is one. Roquète has a creamy, toasty side, balanced out with loads of citrus, minerality, and its signature anise-seed finish. That means you can really go glass after glass, be it beach, terrace (hold the ice cubes, though), sunshine, wherever . . . and you’ll always find yourself reaching for more.
—Chris Santini
Wine Type: | white |
Vintage: | 2020 |
Bottle Size: | 750mL |
Blend: | 35% Clairette, 35% Roussanne, 30% Grenache Blanc |
Appellation: | Châteauneuf-du-Pape |
Country: | France |
Region: | Southern Rhône |
Producer: | Domaine la Roquète |
Winemaker: | Frédéric & Daniel Brunier |
Vineyard: | Planted in 1987, 3 ha |
Soil: | Sand on red clay and galets roulés |
Aging: | Wine ages in cuve and in barrel for 8 months before bottling |
Farming: | Lutte Raisonnée |
Alcohol: | 13.5% |
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About The Producer
Domaine la Roquète
In September 1986, René Laugier wanted to retire but had no successors to take over La Roquette , his domaine in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. When Daniel and Frédéric Brunier bought the domaine, it was a logical choice. The brothers had been proving their worth as rising young stars of the appellation, and the Brunier family, proprietor of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe, had a long history of working tough soils—they farm La Crau, which boasts some of the most challenging vineyard terrain and most pedigreed soils of Châteauneuf. Daniel and Frédéric purchased twenty-nine hectares of vineyards at La Roquète. The brothers replanted the Clos La Roquète to white in 1987; this is currently the only wine bottled under the La Roquète label.
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Vintage Chart Mentality

Vintage Chart Mentality
Trust the great winemakers, trust the great vineyards. Your wine merchant might even be trustworthy. In the long run, that vintage strip may be the least important guide to quality on your bottle of wine.—Kermit Lynch