Complexity, dimension, and drinkability, is how we would describe the 2018 Domaine Saint Préfert Châteauneuf-du-Pape, which is a Southern Rhône blend of 85% Grenache and 5% each of Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault. This is a wine that’s well-balanced, extremely satisfying, and deserves a spot in your cellar.
Domaine Saint Préfert is known for producing wines that are complex and incredibly approachable. They easily hold their own against Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s legacy producers like Domaine de Beaucastel. Isabel Ferrando the owner and proprietor of the Domaine found her calling as a vineyard owner and winemaker later in life, but the quality of her bottles has the elegance of someone who has been making wine their entire life.
Located in Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines are known for their big fruit-forward flavors. Winemakers are allowed to use 13 different grape varieties in their wines, with grenache the overwhelmingly dominant grape in the blends. While there are a handful of producers who make 100% grenache wines, most are blends of grenache, mourvèdre, syrah, and cinsault.
As grape growers in France encounter more challenging climate conditions in the vineyards, many are increasing the amount of mourvèdre in their wines because it doesn’t tend towards the jamminess that grenache has when it’s overly ripe. More and more Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers are also increasing the amount of white grapes they blend into their wines, to bring down the alcohol levels (Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines can sometimes be 15-16% alcohol), and to bring more acidity to the bottle.
Increasingly warm temperatures, and a climate in the region that’s changing from the Mediterranean to a more arid climate, are also causing some Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyard owners to irrigate their vines, a practice that traditionally has been looked down upon.
Winemakers like Isabel Ferrando see themselves as lucky when compared to other French wine regions because Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s grapes can be used in any combination, and still obtain the region’s AOC designation; this gives the winemakers incredible flexibility when it comes to blending wines.
In a recent Financial Times article, she’s quoted as saying, “the greatest response to climate change in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is blending”.
Isabel Ferrando came into the wine business in a roundabout way. She wasn’t born into a winemaking family, nor did she apprentice at different vineyards around Europe as a young adult, as so many do. While she was always drawn to France’s beautiful countryside, with its vast vineyards, it wasn’t until mid-way through her career in corporate banking that decided she needed to change the direction of her life and take a chance at something she was passionate about… wine.
When Isabel discovered Domaine Saint Préfert, a small but respected Domaine, was for sale, she rearranged her life, left her corporate job, bought the vineyard, and learned how to make wine.
One of the things that attracted Isabel to Domaine Saint Préfert was its ancient vines. The mourvèdre was planted all the way back in the 1920s when the first grapes were planted on the property. The grenache plantings are a mix of old and new vines, with the average vine age somewhere around 70 years ago.
Isabel released her first wine in 2003 and has since gained the respect of notable wine critics Joe Czerwinski of Wine Advocate, James Molesworth of Wine Spectator, and Jeb Dunnuck.
What we liked about this wine was its balance. There are so many wines from Châteauneuf-du-Pape that lean into the big, bold, jamminess of overripe grenache, but the wines from Domaine Saint Préfert are juicy, without being overbearing, and full, without being dull.
On the nose, you’ll find black pepper, plum, stony graphite, juicy blackberry, and a green herbaceousness that feels like asparagus. There’s also a hint of petrol. There’s a lot going on in the bouquet of this nose, and all of it works.
This is a wine that benefits from decanting for around thirty minutes. Once it opens up, the black pepper is the first thing you’ll notice on the palate, and that’s followed by an unfurling of ripe black cherries, fennel, petrol, and a wet earth quality that’s similar to graphite and gravel.
The finish on this Rhône blend is one of the more interesting finishes we’ve had on a wine. We picked up spicy cinnamon and tobacco essence, but the final note was —- bubblegum. You heard that right, bubblegum. This wine has a grabbag flavor profile, but it was pretty seamless, and, in a word, interesting. The nose was wonderful and extremely satisfying on the palate – a truly enjoyable wine.
At $46 a bottle, this wine is one worth grabbing; it’s an amazing value.
What other wine critics think of the 2018 Domaine Saint Préfert Châteauneuf-du-Pape:
France
Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Grenache
14%
Isabel Ferrando
62–68°F / 16–20°C
Burgundy
1 Hour
Now to 2032
Domaine Saint Prefert
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