LE TELEGRAMME Chateauneuf-du-Pape

Essentially the second wine of top Chateauneuf estate Domaine de Vieux Telegraph, this is pure Grenache from 20-25 year old vines and from older parcels that don’t make it into the top cuvée, in our opinion a far preferable practice than that, currently rather over-popular, of making a super cuvée which is designed to impress wine critics but which can only deprive an estate’s main wine of some of its finest fruit. The Brunier brothers, Daniel and Frederic, deliberately make Telegramme in a forward, early-maturing style, so hand-picking, double sorting to ensure that only the healthiest fruit goes into the vat, destemming to remove harsh tannins, then a temperature controlled fermentation over 25 days, followed by 14 months maturation in a combination of vat and oak foudre. Supple and round, the excellent 2017 benefits from decanting, which brings out the characteristic pepper and dried fruit character which is so much the personality of fine Chateauneuf-du-Pape.