2013 Domaine du Pegau, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Cuvee Reserve, Rhone Red, France.
Laurence Feraud’s gorgeous traditionally crafted 2013 Reserve Chateauneuf is the real deal with wonderful layers of fruit, spice, earthiness and garrigue as well as a showy hedonistic personality that makes you really pay attention to every sip! This 2013 is getting good right now, well integrated with much less of an oaky feel and presence than in the past, it feels fantastic on the palate with beautiful detail and has impressive force and impact showing ripe boysenberry, plum jam, dusty raspberry, ground pepper, creme de cassis, dried lavender, hints of mission fig, crushed stones and saddle leather. This serious Chateauneuf may not be a hyped year, as the 2015 certainly will be, but damn this is thrilling stuff and looks to be a steal when comparing prices of top Chateauneuf-du-Pape offerings, it’s a lovely bottle that delivers everything you’d want from this region. The Pegau Reserve is a deep garnet/purple with a slight brick note on the edges and with air the nose develops floral, game and kirsch elements while the finish lingers with it’s weighty Grenache charms, plus a salted licorice and morello cherries, it’s mostly Grenache 80% as you can taste along with small amounts Syrah, Mourvedre and a mix of permitted varietals. Ms Feraud gets the most out of her old vine plots that are grown on the classic galets as well as sand, clay and chalky limestone, she used carefully sorted whole clusters with stems going for native and natural ferments in cement vats before aging the Cuvee Reserve 24 months in large cask, in well seasoned old neutral oak these days, with extra low sulfur and as little as possible acid added depending on vintage balance. Usually a sexy wine, this 2013 does not disappoint, enjoy this Chateauneuf over the next 5 to 10 years, best to decant and have with robust and rustically simple cuisine for the best experience, also check out Pegau’s Cote du Rhone and Vin de France reds, they are wildly enjoyable too.
($60 Est.) 94 Points, grapelive
