2021 Chateauneuf du Pape

Medium-bodied, and earthy in character, with notes of flowers, dark kirsch and garrigue. The wine is forward, and fruity with an elegant character. There is a slightly chewy edge to the sweet, ripe, pure red fruits on the palate and in the finish. The wine will be easy to enjoy on release and over the next 7-10 years. Drink from 2023-2032.

Bottled in April of this, the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape clearly ranks with the crème de la crème of the vintage and has more depth, concentration, and texture than most. Black raspberries, Provençal herbs, ground pepper, and assorted spices define the aromatics, and it's medium to full-bodied, has a focused, elegant mouthfeel, beautiful tannins, and a great finish. It's not massive and plays in the elegant, fresher style of the vintage, but it's utterly beguiling with its complexity and nuance. Drink bottles any time over the coming 10-15 years. Located in the southern part of the appellation and previously named Domaine de Saint Préfert, this impeccably run estate is owned and managed by Isabel Ferrando, who learned winemaking in Gigondas when she worked at Raspail-Ay. Her first vintage in Châteauneuf du Pape was in 2003, and she produced a bevy of truly brilliant wines from 2003 to 2019 under her Domaine de Saint Préfert label. In 2020, the estate was renamed to Famille Isable Ferrando, and while she produced as many as five cuvées in the past, today the model has moved away from special cuvées, with the focus on a single, classic Châteauneuf du Pape, although she does continue to release a Colombis, F601, and Cuvée Special Vielles Clairettes. Having tasted with Ferrando since early in the 2000s, it has been interesting to see the gradual changes in style at the estate, with the early wines being exuberant and powerful, yet always balanced and elegant. Starting in 2009, you can see a gradual shift in the style of the wines, with Ferrando opting to keep some stems in the fermentations, as well as a subtle shift in the élevage of the wines. I suspect there were subtle changes in harvest dates as well, but her wines have always been true to the region and have utterly classic profiles. The most dramatic change was moving away from the special cuvée model in 2020 with the first release of the Famille Isabel Ferrando Châteauneuf du Pape, which includes grapes from the prior classic cuvée, Reserve Auguste Favier, and Collection Charles Giraud. The quality speaks for itself, and this estate has always gone from strength to strength, which I expect to continue.

Tauter and crisper than usual, the 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape features strawberry and cherry fruit. Mainly Grenache, with smaller portions of Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre, it's medium to full-bodied, framed by silky tannins and ending with a gently dusty feel. Note: this includes fruit that formerly went into the Reserve Auguste Favier and Collection Charles Giraud bottlings. It wasn't an easy vintage here in 2021.