Châteauneuf du Pape - Domaine Raymond Usseglio
We are delighted to offer a collection of Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale from Domaine Raymond Usseglio.
The domaine's Imperiale is a blend of 95% Grenache & 5% other Rhone varieties. All the Grenache vines are older than 100 years, having been planted in 1902. This age gives great concentration and a richness that makes a spectacular Chateauneuf-du-Pape. With the age of the vines, also comes low yields - approximately 250 cases are produced each year, making the Imperiale hard to find in maturity.
These cases are currently lying in bond at Seckford.
2 x 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale
£395 per 12 IB
92 Points (Wine Advocate)
The ancient vine (primarily Grenache planted in 1902) cuvee, the 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale, displays gorgeous sweetness, a striking minerality, impeccable purity, and a bold, full-bodied, backward, fresh style with abundant concentration, high levels of glycerin, and loads of black cherry fruit intermixed with black currants, raspberries, licorice, and garrigue-like elements. Moderate tannin in the finish suggests patience will be warranted.
9 x 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale
£395 per 12 IB
94 Points (Wine Advocate)
One of the strong efforts, and a potential wine of the vintage, is the 2006 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale. An extraordinarily superb expression of kirsch liqueur intermixed with sandy, resiny notes as well as hints of seaweed, garrigue, and pepper, this wine is deep, full-bodied fabulously concentrated, with silky tannins and decent acidity. It’s a beauty and clearly a great example of old-vine Grenache made in unmanipulated, uncompromising fashion. Drink it over the next 15+ years.
5 x 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale
£395 per 12 IB
98 Points (Wine Advocate)
Tasted at the property from magnum, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale (Vigne Centenaires) is stunning, and stunningly youthful. It's still floral, with scents of roses and tea accenting raspberry and cassis. Full-bodied, silky and long, this has everything—lush fruit, ample spicy complexity and a dry, savory finish. It has to be up there with the best wines of the vintage.
1 x 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale
£210 per 6 IB
94 Points (Wine Advocate)
The 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale is a big, super ripe wine, loaded with plummy, chocolaty fruit. It's almost entirely Grenache from sandy sites, made and aged in concrete. At 16% alcohol by volume, it's full-bodied and the tannins are ripe, creamy and supple, but the alcoholic heat isn't particularly noticeable. Give the bit of green stemminess from some whole-cluster inclusion a year or two in bottle to merge with the rest of the wine and drink it young, before the fruit fades.
6 x 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale
£195 per 6 IB
95 Points (Wine Advocate)
Almost entirely Grenache, from parcels planted in 1901 and 1902, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale is a stunner. Scents of roses, black tea and raspberries set the scene, while the palate is full-bodied but silky and nearly weightless, delivering an intricate, detailed interplay of red fruit, dried spices and orange zest. Despite what must be 15% alcohol or more, it shows absolutely no sign of heat.