2007 Domaine de la Charbonniere Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes

A more masculine, graphite, mineral and smoked dark fruit-driven wine, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is full-bodied, concentrated and still structured and moderately tannic. It’s beautifully concentrated but still needs a year or three to hit full maturity, and it will keep for another decade or more after that.

Much more serious and reserved, the 2007 Domaine de la Charbonnière Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Vieilles Vignes is a quintessential old vine Grenache cuvee. A blend of 70% old-vine Grenache (from 70-80 year-old vines) and 30% Mourvèdre, that comes all from the famed La Crau lieu-dit, it exhibits a beautifully rich bouquet of licorice-laced blackberry, smoked earth like minerality, leather, nori, and dried garrigue. This flows to a full-bodied Châteauneuf-du-Pape that has a firm, structured, yet beautifully concentrated feel, fantastic balance, and savory, almost chewy tannin that emerges on the finish. In need of a solid 3-4 years of bottle age, this superb, age-worthy 2007 could end up having 20+ years of longevity.

(70% grenache and 30% mourvedre) Bright red. Expressive raspberry and cherry-scented bouquet is complicated by notes of baking spices and wilted rose. Finely etched red fruit flavors gain depth with air and take a turn to blacker raspberry, with a zesty note of white pepper emerging on the back. Already very tasty but has the balance to age.