Domaine de la Mordorée Reine des Bois Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2020

Domaine de la Mordorée Reine des Bois Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2020 is a Grenache-led Rhône red with blackberry, violet, pepper and ageworthy depth from France. This is the flagship sort of Châteauneuf that fills the room before the glass reaches your hand. Expect dark berries, violet, pepper, leather and a broad finish shaped by demi-muids and foudres.

About the Wine
The 2020 Reine des Bois starts in Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards farmed under organic certification by Domaine de la Mordorée. Grenache leads the blend, with Mourvèdre, Syrah and Vaccarèse giving this cuvée a more detailed cast than many Grenache-only readings of the appellation. The vineyard profile named for this bottle is especially telling: sand, galets roulés and limestone sit together in the same wine. The sandy notes suit the dark raspberry side, and the rounded stones echo the warm black-fruited weight you feel on the palate. Limestone shows in the clean line through the finish, which keeps the leather and violet notes neatly framed. In the cellar, the 2020 spends 18 to 24 months in French oak demi-muids and foudres. The larger vessels give the wine a broad oak frame and a calm surface. The result in the glass is a polished texture, with blackberry and black raspberry wrapped around pepper and new leather. The élevage feels well matched to a 15 percent Châteauneuf-du-Pape that has real density through the middle. After a few minutes in the glass, dark cherry, garrigue and a faint saddle-leather note sit under the fruit.

Tasting Notes
In the glass, Domaine de la Mordorée Reine des Bois Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2020 sits deep ruby with a purple edge, a colour that fits its ripe Grenache-led core and 15 percent scale. The first scent is black raspberry and blackberry, then violet, cracked black pepper and new saddle leather move in with air and make the wine feel unmistakably Reine des Bois. The palate is medium to full bodied and concentrated, with tannins that build slowly across the tongue and grip near the back of the mouth after a minute in the glass. Cherry liqueur, warm stones and dried herbs give the finish a darker Châteauneuf shape than the perfume first suggests; the last echo is raspberry, leather and plum skin. Drink 2024-2040.

Food Pairing
Pour this 2020 Reine des Bois with grilled ribeye, especially one finished with rosemary salt and the char that speaks to its pepper and galets roulés warmth. Venison loin with juniper, wild boar ragù or slow-cooked lamb shoulder all have the darker flavour needed for its blackberry, leather and Mourvèdre edge. For a regional table, choose daube provençale with black olives, orange peel and thyme; the wine picks up the stew’s herbs and stays broad enough for the long braise. At the cheese board, aged Comté or firm sheep’s milk cheese suit the wine’s tannic line, and saucisson or duck rillettes make sense if the bottle is being opened before dinner. Give the bottle a short decant for rich meat dishes; the violet and raspberry side grows clearer as the first wave of oak and dark fruit settles.

Producer
Domaine de la Mordorée has an unusually clear signature before the cork is pulled: the woodcock on the label points to the estate name, and Reine des Bois means “queen of the woods”; the detail feels personal once you know the translation. Francis Delorme and his son Christophe created the domaine in 1986 in Tavel, then built a range that reaches from their home village to Lirac and Châteauneuf-du-Pape across three southern Rhône addresses. Today the estate remains family led, with Christophe’s wife Madeleine and daughter Ambre associated with its continuation after his death in 2015 and with the organic work that appears directly on this bottle of 2020 Reine des Bois. The concrete trait to know here is selection: Mordorée bottles Reine des Bois as one of its top Châteauneuf-du-Pape cuvées with Grenache joined by Mourvèdre, Syrah and the rarer Vaccarèse. That last grape gives the 2020 label a detail many drinkers notice only after the first glass, especially next to the long élevage in demi-muids and foudres and the stated 15 percent alcohol. The domaine’s identity is tied to named cuvées and clearly separated bottlings, and this wine carries that habit in its full title as much as in its dark fruit, peppered finish and saddle-leather scent.

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