Le Vieux Donjon Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2013
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Claire Fabre, like her father Lucien Michel before her, makes only one red, focused on grenache with some syrah, mourvèdre and cinsault in the blend, pulled from the family’s 35 acres of vines. Most of those vines are very old, and this wine seems to channel the intensity of their fruit in its vividness. It’s not a big wine, but it feels expansive, hitting every hallmark scent and flavor of the south of France, from ripe figs to wild fennel, olives and even merguez. There’s no wood to speak of—it’s fermented in cement and aged in neutral foudres. Instead, it feels powerful in its nakedness, a bare and beautiful portrait of place.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Showing even better from bottle than barrel, the outstanding 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape is a slightly shifted blend of 60% Grenache, 20% Syrah and 20% Mourvèdre that saw the normal traditional vinification (50% destemmed) and aging in foudre. It reveals a healthy ruby/purple color to go with lots of pepper, Provençal herbs and currants. Medium-bodied, with more density than the 2014, it shows the slightly austere edge to the vintage, yet has a beautiful texture, ripe tannin and an excellent finish. It will have 10-15 years or overall longevity.
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Wine Spectator
Very silky in feel, with lovely raspberry, bitter plum and cherry coulis flavors gliding along, laced with subtle savory, lavender and tobacco notes. Shows a lightly dusty edge to the finish, which has nice length and good underlying acidity. A little shy on stuffing, but delivers lovely range and feel. Drink now through 2024. 4,000 cases made.
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Le Vieux Donjon, as it exists today, was created in 1979 with the marriage of Lucien and Marie José Michel. Both Lucien and Marie José's parents owned vineyards in the region, and those holding were combined to form Le Vieux Donjon. The domaine covers fourteen hectares of vineyards (all farmed organically), thirteen planted to red grapes and one planted to white. The Michel's holdings are primarily in the North and Northwest of the AOC, but they also have small plots in the Southwest and East. Their most important parcel is Pialons, and the grapes from the 2008 come from that parcel as well as those in Cabrieres, Bois de Boursan, Les Marines and Le Mourre de Gaude. The soils are mainly limestone and clay, and are studded with the famed galets roulé, the round, rust-colored stones which were left behind after the retreat of the Alpine glaciers which once covered the region.
Since 2008 Claire Fabre has been the winemaker at Le Vieux Donjon. She is the third generation of the Michel family which was founded by the father of Lucien Michel, Marcel Michel, who did the first bottling at his domain in 1966. Since 1979 Marie José and Lucien Michel have run the property. Claire is married to another winegrower, Adrien Fabre of Domaine la Florane in Visan. In 2013 Claire's brother François joined her at the domain, and the two of them became officially responsible for the property together with their mother Marie Michel.With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.