Back to: Half Bottles of Red Wine
Red
Rhône
Grenache Based
Cork
Full Body
Light Oak
ABV >14.5%
Tasting notes
Powerful and complex but rounded out with age; excellent fruits and complexity. Makes a feast out of roast leg of lamb or Boeuf Bourguignon and crunchy cheddar.
Why we recommend this wine
We are not great fans of Grenache finding it generally too sweet for out taste so when we went to the Rhone recently (see our trip report here) we did not expect to find many reds that we liked and were going to concentrate on the white wines. But we were wrong. There were plenty wines we did not like but the good winemakers made great wines. The Tinel Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a great example of what we liked and is from an excellent vintage.
The wine
Primarily Grenache noir (70 %) with Syrah (20 %) and Mourvèdre from 70 year old vines. Wine critics almost always give this wine a score in excess of 90 points which makes it excellent in their books. The old vines give power and we like the addition of a reasonable amount of Syrah because of the finesse and complexity it gives.
The wine estate
A venture established as a partnership between the Establet and Jeune families in the sixteenth century finally became one by the marriage of the two families in the 1960s. Looking at the history of growing estates by marriage in France one wonders why it took so long. The castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is visible close by from some of their vineyards.
domainegrandtinel.fr
Food and wine
Tannins and rich dark fruit flavours mean that the wine cuts through rich fatty foods - meats, sausages and cheeses. Also see our guide to pairing food and wine here.
Did you know?
Châteauneuf got its name from Castro Novo (new fortified village) which was first recorded around the time of 1066 and all that. The Pape part came from when several Popes lived there in the 13 hundreds before the Papacy returned to Rome.
Powerful and complex but rounded out with age; excellent fruits and complexity. Makes a feast out of roast leg of lamb or Boeuf Bourguignon and crunchy cheddar.
Why we recommend this wine
We are not great fans of Grenache finding it generally too sweet for out taste so when we went to the Rhone recently (see our trip report here) we did not expect to find many reds that we liked and were going to concentrate on the white wines. But we were wrong. There were plenty wines we did not like but the good winemakers made great wines. The Tinel Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a great example of what we liked and is from an excellent vintage.
The wine
Primarily Grenache noir (70 %) with Syrah (20 %) and Mourvèdre from 70 year old vines. Wine critics almost always give this wine a score in excess of 90 points which makes it excellent in their books. The old vines give power and we like the addition of a reasonable amount of Syrah because of the finesse and complexity it gives.
The wine estate
A venture established as a partnership between the Establet and Jeune families in the sixteenth century finally became one by the marriage of the two families in the 1960s. Looking at the history of growing estates by marriage in France one wonders why it took so long. The castle of Châteauneuf-du-Pape is visible close by from some of their vineyards.
domainegrandtinel.fr
Food and wine
Tannins and rich dark fruit flavours mean that the wine cuts through rich fatty foods - meats, sausages and cheeses. Also see our guide to pairing food and wine here.
Did you know?
Châteauneuf got its name from Castro Novo (new fortified village) which was first recorded around the time of 1066 and all that. The Pape part came from when several Popes lived there in the 13 hundreds before the Papacy returned to Rome.