1996 Chateauneuf-du-Pape La Truffiere

Winemakers Gerard Jacumin and Marc Cellier like to microvinify, adapting the vinification and elevage for each vintage not only to each cepage but according to the age of each parcel. (In 1998, for example, there were separate vinifications of grenache, mourvedre, syrah, cinsault, clairette rose, counoise and muscardin for the reds, and grenache blanc, picpoul, clairette and roussanne for the whites.) This approach, says Jacumin, gives the estate far more flexibility at the time of the assemblage. The selections are made for the estate numerous bottlings in December and January following the vintage, and the various wines are assembled in cuve in early February. Aging may take place in cuves foudres or barriques Chateauneuf du Pape, says Jacumin, was traditionally a wine of 13 cepages and thus the estate has recently planted vaccarese and picardin, and expects to put in some bourboulenc and terret noir in the next couple of years. The wines imported by European Cellars are bottled without filtration. The finished '97s noted below, except for the Onyx bottling, are the unfiltered bottles earmarked for European Cellars, while the '96s I tasted are the lightly filtered cuvees sold in France and other markets (other finished '96s were reviewed in Issue 76).