In a recent reflection, wine expert Matt Walls dives into the evolution of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s wine-making styles, using Domaine de la Mordorée as a key example. Historically, the late 1990s and early 2000s were marked by a “modern” approach characterized by excessive ripeness and the heavy use of new oak barrels. However, such extremes have fallen out of favor as contemporary winemakers shift their focus toward wines that exhibit freshness and balance.
One significant release during the earlier period was Domaine de la Mordorée’s La Plume du Peintre. Walls recently revisited vintages from 2003 and 2005, contrasting them with the more recent 2019 and 2022 offerings. This exploration was motivated by a desire to assess whether the disdain for the old styles is warranted or if those original winemakers were onto something valuable.
Through these comparisons, the story examines how tastes and techniques evolve over time in the wine industry, much like trends in music and other creative fields. Are winemakers today deriving a greater quality from the vineyards by rejecting the excesses of the past, or is there an element of nostalgia that merits reconsideration of the earlier stylistic choices?
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