Vieux Telegraphe 2020 Chateauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 750ml

This shows a lot of aromatic appeal, with dusty earth and singed incense notes covering a well of fresh cherry and red currant flavors. A gutsy, grippy style on the palate, with a cast-iron spine bringing firm shape and underlying power. Slightly old-school, this still needs time to unfurl. Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. Best from 2025 through 2035.

Score: 94 points, #7 Wine of the Year - Wine Spectator, 2024

Tasted as a tank sample of the final blend, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau is a blend of approximately 60% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah and 5% other permitted varieties, with about 30% whole bunches used in the ferments. Marked by ripe cherries and hints of complex garrigue notes on the nose, it's full-bodied but also really elegant, with fine-grained, silky tannins, ample concentration and a long, surprisingly crisp finish.

Score: 93-95 points -- Joe Czerwinski, The Wine Advocate, 2022

***

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe has been run by our family, the Brunier family, for six generations - since 1891 to be precise. The estate’s vineyards, 60 years old on average, are planted on the celebrated Plateau of La Crau, a site renowned for grape-growing in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This terroir imparts to our wines a highly distinctive minerality, as if they have been filtered through the thick layer of large pebbles left behind when the Alpine glaciers melted, long before the Rhône Valley formed.