2013 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Le Secret des Sabon, Roger Sabon, Rhône
- Red
- Dry
- Full Bodied
Ready - youthful
Product: 20131170487
Description
Two small parcels in the eastern Courthézon sector do the honours here. Only one barrel is produced and the dominant component is Grenache, although Didier is not sure quite how dominant it actually is, let’s say more than 90 percent. The wine has an acrobatic tension between the acidity and the tannins, and the finish is long. The wine defies the apparent difficulties associated with Grenache in this year.
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
Didier Negron makes a style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape which is both glossy and immediately appealing, while at the same time maintaining the herbal complexity and garrigue charm for which the appellation is justly celebrated. How he achieves this is, as his top wine confirms, something of a secret. He describes 2013 as ‘heterogeneous’; he predicts that the wines will be appreciated for their relative delicacy and their elegant structure. There is nothing particularly profound in such observationsthe real profundity resides in the wines themselves which are uniformly excellent. One of the few special cuvees produced in the vintage, Sabon’s Grenache-dominated 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape le Secret de Sabon is a perfumed, elegant effort that has impressive aromatics, medium to full-bodied richness, plenty of depth and high, yet sweet, tannin that emerges on the finish. I was shocked to see this level of quality out of a Grenache-driven cuvee in 2013. It should have an easy 15 years of longevity.
Jeb Dunnuck - Wine Advocate Issue#215 Oct 2014
Simon Field MW - Rhône Buyer
Didier Negron makes a style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape which is both glossy and immediately appealing, while at the same time maintaining the herbal complexity and garrigue charm for which the appellation is justly celebrated. How he achieves this is, as his top wine confirms, something of a secret. He describes 2013 as ‘heterogeneous’; he predicts that the wines will be appreciated for their relative delicacy and their elegant structure. There is nothing particularly profound in such observationsthe real profundity resides in the wines themselves which are uniformly excellent. One of the few special cuvees produced in the vintage, Sabon’s Grenache-dominated 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape le Secret de Sabon is a perfumed, elegant effort that has impressive aromatics, medium to full-bodied richness, plenty of depth and high, yet sweet, tannin that emerges on the finish. I was shocked to see this level of quality out of a Grenache-driven cuvee in 2013. It should have an easy 15 years of longevity.
Jeb Dunnuck - Wine Advocate Issue#215 Oct 2014
Colour Red
Sweetness Dry
Vintage 2013
Maturity Ready - youthful
Body Full Bodied
Producer Domaine Roger Sabon
About this wine
Domaine Roger Sabon
Roger Sabon is described by Robert Parker as "one of the more intellectual vignerons in Châteauneuf du-Pape". His vineyard holdings are surprisingly small, around 14 hectares, which are divided between his properties in Lirac, Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Cotes du Rhône. The Châteauneuf vineyards are well situated in Les Cabrieres, La Crau, Courtherzon and Nalys and the average age of his vines is unusually high with some of them dating back to the early 1900s. The general cepage is made up of 70% Grenache although this is reduced in his top two cuvées, the Cuvee Reservee and he Cuvée Prestige. Roger Sabon is a traditionalist and prefers to age his wines in small oak piece, none of which are new, for six months following a sojourn en cuve. He places great emphasis upon elegance rather than power in his wines and in youth his wine can be deceiving. With time, however, they grow and gain in depth and complexity and are some of the finest Châteauneufs being produced today.
Find out more
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
The largest and most important appellation in the southern Rhône, with more than 3,200 hectares of vineyards and over 80 growers, Châteauneuf-du-Pape produces more wine than the whole of the northern Rhône combined. The gloriously rich red wines, redolent of the heat and herbs of the south, are enhanced by the complexity which comes from blending several of the 14 permitted grape varieties including Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah.
Find out more
Need help?
Delivery and Quality Guarantee
Registered company 05492886. BB&R Limited, trading as Berry Bros. & Rudd, 3 St James's Street, London, SW1A 1EG. All rights reserved. You must be 18 or over to order. Calls may be recorded. Global Footer label test.
