Eddie Feraud, Chateauneuf Du Pape other_regions_italy

Eddie Feraud, Chateauneuf Du Pape other_regions_italyThe 2017 Chteauneuf Du Pape checks in 85% Grenache, 10% Mourvdre, and the balance a mix of varieties, all of which spent 18 months in foudre. Beautiful notes of blackcurrants, blueberries, violets, ground pepper, and sappy garrigue like nuances all emerge from this medium to full bodied effort that has outstanding purity of fruit, polished, ripe tannins, and a great finish. You could do much worse than to have a case of this in the cellar.

Sweet fruit and leather accents return on the finish

very old vines (80–90 years old) in a cool subzone around Ponferrada at around 800–900 m elevation on schist soils (cf the better-known clay and sandy sites found across most of Bierzo)

Then very mellow

violet and rose petal aromas to shine

in this 2018 wine

Gentle grip

-like sweetness

all wrapped in a youthfully austere and dramatically long finish

Perhaps it's the combination of centenary vines and a warm and dry year that delivered very ripe and concentrated juice

detailed and youthfully austere finale that is notably more complex and persistent

Fremières

This is much more deeply pitched and pungently earth with its array of very fresh red and dark berries that carry whiffs of earth and the sauvage