2018 Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, La Crau, Rhone Red, France.
The youthful, cool mineral toned, spicy and fresh ’18 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf Rouge, a blend of 65% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah, 5% Cinsault and tiny amounts of Clairette Blanche, is largely shy still, but with excellent potential, which just began to show itself after a lengthy period in the glass, eventually revealing the true depth and rewards on offer here. Feeling light n its feet, this vintage is a sleeper that will impress with time, I’m certain, and while not as expressive as one would expect from a Chateauneuf, there’s still plenty to enjoy here and it was sublime with food, especially a rustic beef dish. The medium/full palate of this dark garnet Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe delivers black raspberry, dark plum, earthy currant and subtle candied cherry fruits, along with raw peppercorns, crushed lavender, wild sage, anise, loamy stones, floral incense, truffle, coco and cedary notes. This wine is born from the layers of soils here, including alluvial deposits, limestone, silica, and a robust red clay (known as molasse) that has come to, says VT’s famous importer Kermit Lynch, characterize this high elevation vineyard. Going on, Lynch notes that sitting on the surface of the soil, are the galets (large stones) that hold important functions, insulating the vines from both the cold and the heat, and they provide ideal drainage for the roots, giving just the right amount of stress to increase depth and complexity in the grapes and the resulting wines. For their top Chateauneuf, Vieux Telegraphe and Brunier’s use partial whole bunches, though mostly de-stemmed, with fermentation and skin maceration in a combination of temperature-controlled wood cuves and stainless steel vats lasting about a month before being racked to cement for 10 months. After that the wine is transferred to large foudres for about 12 months, for a total aging time of close to 22 months before bottling.
The history of Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe begins humbly with the Brunier family story, which importer Kermit Lynch says begins in 1898 with Hippolyte Brunier, who was a modest farmer who lived off the land, Hippolyte kept less than a hectare of vines to make his own wines. His small vineyard, which one day would become legendary, was at one of the highest points in between Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Bédarrides, a stony plateau called La Crau, with its own unique terroir. The elevation of this terrain had prompted the construction of a communication tower in the late 18th century to transmit telegraph messages between Marseille and Paris, hence the future name of Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe. Continuing, Kermit explains this barren landscape is not immediately discernable—there is nothing but galets roulés, or the now famous rounded stones of Chateauneuf du Pape, as far as the eye can see. Up so high, the vineyards are exposed to all kinds of elements—rain, hail, scorching sunshine, and especially the unruly Mistral. This was unwelcome terrain where only the toughest vigneron dare plant, although the notorious Mistral works wonderfully to prevent rot. Over time this has become one of the region’s most celebrated Crus and I am a huge fan of Vieux Telegraphe, which I find awesome of the best in off years, and I still consider the 1999 VT, not a classic vintage in the Rhône, one of my all time favorite wines. This 2018 has the early signs of what I loved about the 1999 and I look forward to seeing what develops here in the next 10 to 15 years. I have been lucky to have tasted Vieux Telegraphe with Daniel Brunier on a few occasions, as well as with Kermit Lynch over the years and each has been been an incredible experience, for which I’m incredibly grateful and have made me an even bigger fan of the wines here, especially the Chateauneuf Rouge, but the Blanc should not be overlooked either. Again, I’ve seen the transformation of young versions of VT to exceptional mature examples, and witnessed the birth of greatness, so I’m confident there’s a lot of pleasure in this 2018s future, patience will be required.
($100 Est.) 94+ Points, grapelive