2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes

Made from 100% old vine Grenache sourced from the Charbonnière and Esquierons lieux-dit, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes showed brilliantly from tank last year, and it certainly didn’t disappoint this go around. In the upper tier of the vintage, it offers a rock star bouquet of pure black raspberries, kirsch liqueur, garrigue, exotic flowers, and Asian spices. Full-bodied, concentrated, and incredibly seamless on the palate, it’s one of those wines that carries an amazing amount of richness and depth yet magically stays light on its feet, elegant, and graceful. Grenache doesn’t get much better. Give it 3-4 years and enjoy bottles over the following two decades of more. One of the benchmark estates in all of France is undeniably Domaine du Marcoux, which is run today by the talented Sophie Armenier, with more and more help from her son, Vincent. Sophie’s sister, Catherine, has recently retired and Vincent has taken over the farming the estate’s 18 hectares in Châteauneuf du Pape, 8 hectares in Lirac, and just over 2 hectares of Côtes du Rhône. The estate is located just outside the northern edge of the appellation, yet they own vines primarily in the south (Grandes Serres, Les Plagnes, and les Galimardes), northwest (Beaurenard, Les Pradel, Maucoil and l’Arnesque) and in the center of the appellation (Les Esqueirons, Les Bosquets and Charbonnière). They make three Châteauneuf du Papes, one white and two reds. The white is always a classic, high quality effort worth checking out and is a mix of Roussanne and Bourboulenc brought up in tank and barrels. For the reds, the classic Châteauneuf du Pape is destemmed and is always roughly 75-80% Grenache with the balance Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Syrah, aged primarily in concrete tanks. They make tiny amount of their Vieilles Vignes cuvée and it’s basically 100% Grenache that’s completely destemmed and comes from three terroirs: Charbonnière, Esqueirons and Galimardes. Their Vieilles Vignes cuvée is one of the world’s most profound wines, and as I’ve said before, there are few I’d rather have in my cellar or on the table.

From vines planted in 1900, the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes leads with aromas of cola, raspberries and dried spices. There's none of the chocolaty excess seen in the regular cuvée, but this full-bodied wine reflects the heat of the year in its slightly coarser than usual tannins. It's full-bodied without being heavy or overdone, just chewier than normal, and likely to age a bit quickly.

Tasted blind. Jammy blackberry fruit, heady spice and simple milk chocolate notes to finish. Attractive, supple tannins. Quite limited complexity, but there's lingering fruit enough to recommend modest ageing. (RH)