Vin de France "Liberty"

Domaine la Barroche
France
Rhône
2020

2015 was the first vintage of this new project that Julien made with his friend Yannick Alliaud. They found a very old-vine parcel located at 125 meters above sea-level in Chateauneuf-de-Gadagne, just east of Avignon. The soils are very similar to La Crau in Châteauneuf-du-Pape with layers of sand, clay, and the famous galets stones found in Châteauneuf. The Grenache vines were planted in the 1930's (about 55% of the blend) and the Mourvedre (12% of the blend) and Cinsault were planted just after WWII. The balance is Syrah, Cinsault, and Carignan. The vines are goblet-trained, which protects the fruit from the sun. 

A strict sorting ensured the best fruit from this already low-yielding parcel. The wine was made in the old gravity-fed cellar built in 1930, with cement tanks built into the floor.  The wine spent four weeks on the skins with ripe whole clusters and then aged in old foudres and 600 liter demi-muids for 18 months. Bottled without fining or filtration. 

90 points
"Julien Barrot makes his “Liberty” bottling from a parcel of almost one hundred year-old grenache vines that lie east of Avignon, just outside of the appellation limits of Châteauneuf du Pape. The 2020 Liberty is a big boy, tipping the scales at fifteen percent alcohol and offering up a deep, ripe and complex bouquet of black raspberries, pepper, hung game, bonfire, stony soil tones and coffee grounds. On the palate the wine is deep, full-bodied, chewy and complex, with great depth of fruit at the core, fine soil undertow and grip, really quite good balance for its octane level and a long, gently warm finish. This carries its alcohol really pretty well for fifteen percent. I would love to drink the wine from a vintage where it comes in at least a half point lower in octane. But, even at fifteen percent, this is good juice. "
John Gilman ,
VFTC
Issue 113

SKU/Code: 
DB4774-20
Product Line: 
National Portfolio
Wine
Red
Varietal: 
Grenache
Farming Type: 
Organic