Rhone Blend Wines

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Now the flagship of this estate, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape is 75% Grenache and the rest Cinsault, Mourvedre, and a little Syrah. Sporting a deep ruby/purple hue, it offers a beautiful array of black raspberry and darker cherry fruit as well as lots of graphite, chalky minerality, Provençal garrigue, and spice. Beautiful on the palate as well, this medium to full-bodied effort has a layered, multi-dimensional mouthfeel, rock-solid underlying structure and concentration, building tannins, and a gorgeous finish. It needs to be forgotten for 2-4 years (although it certainly offers incredible pleasure even today) and will keep for two decades. Tasted twice.Jeb Dunnuck | 98+ JDIsabel Ferrando informed me during my visit that she planned to eliminate the Reserve Auguste Favier and Collection Charles Giraud bottlings, folding those lots and the "tradition" Saint-Prefert Châteauneuf into a single, combined wine under the Famille Isabel Ferrando label. The resulting blend she showed as the 2020 Famille Isabel Ferrando Chateauneuf du Pape is a fine effort, with layers of cola-like spice and hints of garrigue layered against a lush backdrop of cherries and raspberries. Medium to full-bodied and almost creamy in texture, it finishes long, silky and mouthwatering.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 93-95 RPThis cuvée replaces the three historical red cuvées of the domaine (Classique, Auguste Favier and Charles Giraud). Quite introverted for now, seems to have everything required but needs time to knit together. Freshness, energy, fine and plentiful tannins with good acidity. While the alcohol is warming it is balanced. Could be very good in time, hard to judge now, but early signs are good and I’d like to see this again in bottle. From the galets roulés of lieu-dit Les Serres, fermented in concrete and then aged in concrete, old oak and amphora. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2036Decanter | 95 DECApproachable out of the gate, with gorgeous red fruit, wild strawberry, licorice root, dusty earth and lavender flavors joined by floral highlights. Beautifully textured and silky on the palate, with mineral intensity building on the palate, imparting nice persistence and length. A polished yet honest, characteristic wine. Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2032. 3,300 cases made, 1,007 cases imported.Wine Spectator | 94 WS

The 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina is a strong candidate to be wine of the vintage. A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre, it combines scents of black truffles and black cherries with hints of cedar and vanilla (the Mourvèdre is aged in new oak, the Grenache in concrete). It’s full-bodied and concentrated, supple and almost creamy in feel, then long and velvety on the finish. Bravo.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 98 RPPossibly the wine of the vintage (at least at this early stage), the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Deus-Ex Machina is a 60/40 split of Grenache and Mourvedre, with the Grenache brought up in foudre and the Mourvedre in demi-muids. Its vivid ruby/purple hue is followed by rock star notes of kirsch, blackberries, cured meats, woodsmoke, and dried flowers. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, it’s an incredible effort in this challenging vintage.Jeb Dunnuck | 94-96+ JD

The 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape is a richly concentrated effort, dark-fruited and loaded with black cherries and blackberries, yet it’s not without nuance, as it includes hints of asphalt, truffle and dried spices. Full-bodied (15.4% alcohol), deep and velvety, with a long, softly dusty finish, it looks to be a real beauty, capable of aging up to two decades.Robert Parker Wine Advocate | 97-99 RPThe 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape reminds me of the 2007 with its incredible sexiness and seamless, elegant texture. Black cherry liqueur, Provençal herbs, flowers, and licorice are just some of its nuances, and it’s full-bodied, with a layered mouthfeel, gorgeous tannins, and a great, great finish. Tasted from multiple foudre, this is unquestionably up with the finest in the vintage, and as I’ve written in the past, it’s almost impossible to have too much Clos des Papes in the cellar!Jeb Dunnuck | 97-99 JDA touch less Mourvèdre this year, but not enough to change the profile of the wine, which is fairly classic albeit pretty bombastic in 2022. Raspberry and black cherry, ripe and exuberant. Full but not massive, the alcohol is present, slightly warming the finish. Tannins are a little grainy, so I would give this time to settle before broaching. Succulent and juicy, with a touch of liquorice. Vincent Avril believes the wine could close down quite early on. So drink young, or (even better) wait until 2030. All destemmed, aged in old foudres.Decanter | 96 DEC