During a recent visit to Vieux Télégraphe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I was blown away by the harmony radiating throughout the Bruniers’ vineyards and cellar. In any family business, succession can be fraught, and in French wine, this is especially true. But at this storied domaine, the older generation could not have been more in sync with the younger and increasingly responsible generation.
     What’s especially exciting about this unity is that it’s based on an intergenerational exchange of ideas rather than a one-way transmission. Brothers Frédéric and Daniel Brunier seem to have fully assimilated their children, Nicolas, Edouard, and Manon, into the domaine and opened the floor to new practices in the vines and cellar. The result is a commonly held respect for the terroir and traditions of the southern Rhône’s most illustrious appellation, joined with a youthful curiosity and reinforced quest for elegance and freshness.
     What makes the 2021 La Crau so singular and special is that the more classic vintage conditions complemented the Bruniers’ pursuit of an exquisite and refined Châteauneuf. Full of finesse and alluring notes of black cherry, eucalyptus, mint, and garrigue, this is one of the most charming young La Craus I’ve tasted in recent years. Of course, it’s still Grenache grown under a southern sun and in a soil packed full with radiating rounded river stones, so there’s plenty of structure, flavor, and succulence. But if you welcome a soulful country rouge with a little more elegance and poise than usual, you’re in for a treat.