Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes AOC 2020

Deep and of tremendous concentration. The wine carries its 16% alcohol with ease while staying on point with tension, and calls for intense cuisine as a partner. Still young, it shows closed and will continue to evolve over the coming years.

The Armenier family farms 13 parcels within the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation: the famous rolled pebbles over a clay-rich subsoil that retains water well, alongside reddish sandstone soils, colluvial sediments and Cretaceous-era limestone soils that lend the wine its tension. Sophie Armenier and her son Vincent Estevenin run the 18 hectares of Domaine de Marcoux, farmed biodynamically since 1990. The Vieilles Vignes vines are documented since 1900: pre-phylloxera Grenache stocks over 120 years old.

Grenache Noir dominates by far, complemented by small amounts of Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. Grapes are hand-picked at optimal ripeness, which varies by parcel and by variety, with triple sorting: at harvest, when transferring onto the trailer, and at the sorting table in the cellar. The grapes are destemmed, crushed and cooled until native yeasts kick in; maceration lasts four to six weeks. The wine is aged for 18 months in concrete tanks, complemented by a few foudres and older 350-litre barrels.

The nose shows sweet berries, figs and dates, followed by chocolate, roasted hazelnuts, cocoa and sweet mocha. Then tremendous density, a mineral pull and a structure built to carry the wine for decades.

With pan-seared duck liver and cranberries, with hare in Rouennaise sauce, Brussels sprouts and celeriac purée, or with a Fourme d'Ambert tartlet with blackcurrant and dark chocolate.

At this stage, decant and serve lightly chilled in large glasses. A tax register from 1344 already lists the Armenier family as winegrowers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape; in 1990 the estate was among the first in the region to convert to biodynamic farming.