Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc AOC 2023

A white Châteauneuf-du-Pape that holds creaminess and definition together. The nose is silky and warm, with honey on buttery toast, acacia and orange blossom and chamomile, alongside peach, apricot, candied lemon and lemon curd, ripe pineapple, a touch of anise and fennel seed, and salted lemon in the background. The emphasis is on subtlety and finesse.

Domaine de Marcoux farms 18 hectares on the appellation's finest terroirs, biodynamically since 1990, making it one of the very first estates in the region to do so. The wine comes essentially from three parcels: the 0.50-hectare Roussanne plot Les Esqueirons, planted in 1987 on the western slope of the village hill, a 0.35-hectare Bourboulenc parcel in Les Bosquets on the same slope, and a very small Clairette parcel of around 20 ares, used since 2020. The soils show clay, colluvium and limestone dating from the Barremian stage of the Cretaceous.

The 2023 vintage is 70 percent Roussanne and 30 percent Bourboulenc. Hand-harvested into 50-kilo crates, destemmed, pressed; the must goes into stainless steel tanks, with alcoholic fermentation at around 17 °C. Nine months of ageing, 60 percent in stainless steel tank, 40 percent in demi-muids. The estate's white wines do not undergo malolactic fermentation, which preserves the acidity. 14.0% ABV, vinified dry.

Soft and round at first, the wine then becomes spicier, with the ripe acidity adding tension. It is as well integrated as the fine, piquant bitterness characteristic of the appellation's wines. Warm and ripe, but never heavy, with precise definition and constant focus.

A tax register from 1344 already lists the Armenier family as winegrowers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape; today Sophie Armenier and her son Vincent Estevenin run the estate. Around 6 percent of the appellation's vineyard area is planted with white varieties, a similarly high share at Domaine de Marcoux.