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2013 Châteauneuf-du-Pape “La Crau”

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
Discount Eligible $140.00
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This superb Vieux Télégraphe vintage is the example other southern  French winemakers could look to when seeking where to go next. It is a  breakthrough wine. Daniel Brunier said concisely what he, his brother Frédéric, and I were thinking as we tasted it after the bottling: “Truly classic Vieux Télégraphe, deep and powerful as usual, yet showing great finesse and class, almost an ethereal quality.”
     The bouquet is as lovely an expression of the stony plateau of La Crau as I can remember. It brings to mind the magnificent 1978, 1981, and 1983 Vieux Télégraphes. At Châteauneuf, you can’t do better.
     And pay attention to the remarkable tannin that supports the weight of the wine so well—you can actually use the word ethereal to describe the wine on the palate. Revel in that tannin—so present, so lovely. “Good grip!,” as Clive Coates likes to say.
     Drink the 2013 young, old, and in between.

Kermit Lynch


Technical Information
Wine Type: red
Vintage: 2013
Bottle Size: 750mL
Blend: 65% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah, 5% (Cinsault, Clairette, et al)
Appellation: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Country: France
Region: Southern Rhône
Producer: Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe
Winemaker: Frédéric & Daniel Brunier
Vineyard: 20 to 60 years
Soil: Alluvial deposits, Limestone, Silica, and Molasse (red clay) with galets roulés
Aging: Wine rests in cuves for 10 months, and then ages for another 12 months in foudres, wine is bottled unfiltered, after 22 months of aging
Farming: Lutte Raisonnée
Alcohol: 14.5%

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Kermit inspecting wine barrels

For the wines that I buy I insist that the winemaker leave them whole, intact. I go into the cellars now and select specific barrels or cuvées, and I request that they be bottled without stripping them with filters or other devices. This means that many of our wines will arrive with a smudge of sediment and will throw a more important deposit as time goes by, It also means the wine will taste better.