Vieux Telegraphe La Crau Chateauneuf Du Pape Blanc 2018
SKU:
SGD 198.00
SGD 160.00
SGD 160.00
per item
Vintage: 2018
Region: Rhone, France
Producer: Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe
Varietal: 40% Clairette, 30% Grenache Blanc, 15% Bourboulenc, 15% Roussanne
Appellation: Chateauneauf-du-Pape
Alcohol Content: 14%
Drinking Window: 2023-2040
Scores (if you care about): 94-95/100: James Suckling
93-95/+/100 Jeb Dunnuck
Tasting Notes & Reviews:
2018 Vintage
"The finished blend that is now aging another year in 60 hectoliter barrels, this has a very fleshy, round, rich and smooth-honed palate that has such completeness already. The raspberries and red plums are stunning here. The tannins are there and very open-knit and there’s a super sapid feel to the finish. The 15% mourvedre does much of the heavy lifting here. It shapes the finish and drags it deep. Around one-third from crushed grapes with stems. Drinkable on release, but best from 2024." 94-95/100 James Suckling, Oct'2019
2019 Vintage
"If anyone tells you that Châteauneuf is just a big red that’s never elegant, then they need to taste this masterpiece of elegance. So many spicy and savory nuances on the very concentrated but almost perfectly proportioned palate. This is both joyful and serious at the very long, focused finish. Decades of aging potential! Drink or hold." 97/100, James Suckling, Apr'2022
"One of my favorite whites from the south of France is Daniel Brunier’s Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc and his 2019 is another stunning effort. Always a blend of Clairette, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Bourboulenc brought up in foudre, this beauty boasts an exotic nose of honeyed peach, quince, crushed citrus, and salty minerality, all with a floral edge. Medium to full-bodied on the palate with flawless balance and beautifully integrated acidity, enjoy this concentrated white anytime over the coming 15-20 years." 95/100, Jeb Dunnuck
The Estate & Wines profile (Courtesy: Decanter)
"It was Henri Brunier who laid the first stone in 1891. He bought some land to the east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and gave it to his son, Hippolyte. ‘Why did he buy it? We don’t know,’ says Daniel (one of the current owners). ‘It wasn’t even vines, it was woods.’
At this time, Châteauneuf was already internationally recognized for the quality of its wine, so even if clearing the land was hard work, deciding what to plant was less of a challenge. Hippolyte’s son Jules extended the domaine to 17ha and named it after a nearby stone tower that was used to transmit messages by semaphore.
The following generation, another Henri, enlarged the estate to 55ha before bequeathing it to current owners Daniel and Frédéric. Under their command, expansion has been rapid. They’ve grown their Châteauneuf holdings to 100ha, bought 20ha in and around Ventoux, acquired Domaine les Pallières in Gigondas with US importer Kermit Lynch, and created Massaya estate in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley with partners Sami and Ramzi Ghosn.
Family members each have their own area of responsibility. Daniel’s duties are principally commercial, and his son, Edouard, 27, manages their three Rhône wineries. Frédéric and his son Nicolas, 30, concentrate more on the vineyards, and Frédéric’s daughter Manon works in the offices. When it comes to winemaking, however, everyone is involved. ‘The goal is that you don’t know who made it,’ says Daniel.
The use of winemaking consultants has become increasingly prevalent in Châteauneuf-du-Pape over the past few decades, but Daniel stresses that there is no outside influence over the winemaking at Vieux Télégraphe. Theirs is a fiercely independent estate. ‘It’s important to be ourselves,’ says Daniel, ‘and not to try to copy others.’
2018 Vintage
"The finished blend that is now aging another year in 60 hectoliter barrels, this has a very fleshy, round, rich and smooth-honed palate that has such completeness already. The raspberries and red plums are stunning here. The tannins are there and very open-knit and there’s a super sapid feel to the finish. The 15% mourvedre does much of the heavy lifting here. It shapes the finish and drags it deep. Around one-third from crushed grapes with stems. Drinkable on release, but best from 2024." 94-95/100 James Suckling, Oct'2019
2019 Vintage
"If anyone tells you that Châteauneuf is just a big red that’s never elegant, then they need to taste this masterpiece of elegance. So many spicy and savory nuances on the very concentrated but almost perfectly proportioned palate. This is both joyful and serious at the very long, focused finish. Decades of aging potential! Drink or hold." 97/100, James Suckling, Apr'2022
"One of my favorite whites from the south of France is Daniel Brunier’s Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc and his 2019 is another stunning effort. Always a blend of Clairette, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc, and Bourboulenc brought up in foudre, this beauty boasts an exotic nose of honeyed peach, quince, crushed citrus, and salty minerality, all with a floral edge. Medium to full-bodied on the palate with flawless balance and beautifully integrated acidity, enjoy this concentrated white anytime over the coming 15-20 years." 95/100, Jeb Dunnuck
The Estate & Wines profile (Courtesy: Decanter)
"It was Henri Brunier who laid the first stone in 1891. He bought some land to the east of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and gave it to his son, Hippolyte. ‘Why did he buy it? We don’t know,’ says Daniel (one of the current owners). ‘It wasn’t even vines, it was woods.’
At this time, Châteauneuf was already internationally recognized for the quality of its wine, so even if clearing the land was hard work, deciding what to plant was less of a challenge. Hippolyte’s son Jules extended the domaine to 17ha and named it after a nearby stone tower that was used to transmit messages by semaphore.
The following generation, another Henri, enlarged the estate to 55ha before bequeathing it to current owners Daniel and Frédéric. Under their command, expansion has been rapid. They’ve grown their Châteauneuf holdings to 100ha, bought 20ha in and around Ventoux, acquired Domaine les Pallières in Gigondas with US importer Kermit Lynch, and created Massaya estate in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley with partners Sami and Ramzi Ghosn.
Family members each have their own area of responsibility. Daniel’s duties are principally commercial, and his son, Edouard, 27, manages their three Rhône wineries. Frédéric and his son Nicolas, 30, concentrate more on the vineyards, and Frédéric’s daughter Manon works in the offices. When it comes to winemaking, however, everyone is involved. ‘The goal is that you don’t know who made it,’ says Daniel.
The use of winemaking consultants has become increasingly prevalent in Châteauneuf-du-Pape over the past few decades, but Daniel stresses that there is no outside influence over the winemaking at Vieux Télégraphe. Theirs is a fiercely independent estate. ‘It’s important to be ourselves,’ says Daniel, ‘and not to try to copy others.’