2016 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul

Community Tasting Notes (42) Avg Score: 95.5 points

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  2/18/2024 - ERU wrote: 96 Points

  Decanted for 4+ hours. Ruby colored. Red candied fruit, garrigue and spice. I’ve never had anything that is such a wallop of flavor and so light and fresh. It demands sip after sip to try and figure it out. Then I stopped because why overanalyze something so great? Enjoy! Now, it’s too young. Time will make this baby reveal its stuff under the hood.
  
  This bottle put any doubts to rest—I’m waiting on any other 2016 CdPs. I might check one out in 2025 to see how they are doing. In the meanwhile, I’ll console myself with the 2010s.
  
  2016 is one of those vintages that really lives up to the hype.

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  12/29/2023 - AllRed wrote: 94 Points

  Decanted and poured a small taste in advance of dinner tonight with friends at a local Thai byob (throwing very little sediment at this young stage). I usually find CndP too raisined/pruney, but have typically liked the '16 vintage in general for its brighter, fresher fruit profile. This is my first experience with this cuvée in this vintage. Deep ruby crimson red color with notes of baked raspberry and garrigue. The fruit is a bit riper on the palate, more of a red plum than raspberry, along with pepper and herb elements. Nice acid.
  
  Decanted for four hours, rebottled and poured later with dinner, about six hours after the cork was first pulled. Notes of red plum, licorice, garrigue and bouillon. Abundant red fruit on the palate, just slightly ripe with a very subtle raisined flavor in the background. White pepper and currants linger in the finish. Develops a brown sugar-dusted raspberry quality that we all found interesting. This drank very well over the course of two hours.
  
  Nothing wrong with drinking this now after an extended decant, though I agree with others that this should age and develop nicely. My only concern is whether that little bit of raisiny ripeness will become more noticeable- something I wish to avoid- so I will opt to drink these on the younger side. 94-95 pts.

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  12/12/2023 - shafer1994 Likes this wine: 94 Points

  In a Baby Stage, driven by fruit. Very pure and precise. Huge development ahead. Needs minimum of 2-3 more years to get to a level of complexity which you can anticipate in today’s stage. I believe the wine can get to 98+.

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  11/10/2023 - Crunge Likes this wine: 93 Points

  First glass was PnP at cellar temp. Nose of blackberry and wet soil. First few sips and I would have guessed Syrah; blackberry and loads of herbaceous undertones. Some cherry flavors started to peek through as it warmed and breathed, but it never lost the earthiness. Delicious.
  
  Remaining glasses were consumed over the next hour with sous vide rib eye. It has the structure to stand up to the protein, with flavors of cherries, blackberries, and earth. The earthiness was dominant towards the end.

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  11/3/2023 - Russ Bus wrote: 95 Points

  Precise, dense fruit. Pronounced tertiary flavors. Fine well resolved tannin. Drinking great now but can also go a lot longer. 100% Grenache / Whole cluster / Demi-Muid + concrete.

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