DOMAINE DE LA CHARBONNIÈRE |
Single | 6+ | |
| 0 | |||
| 2023 | CHÂTEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE Blanc | £42.95 | £39.50 |
| 0 | |||
| 2022 | VACQUEYRAS | £28.95 | £26.95 |
| 2022 | CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE Cuvée Domaine | £41.95 | £39.50 |
| 2020 | CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE Cuvée Domaine Magnum | £82.95 |
£78.50 |
| 2020 | CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE ‘Mourre des Perdrix’ | £53.95 | £50.50 |
| 2020 | CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE ‘Mourre des Perdrix’ Magnum | £102.95 |
£96.45 |
| 2020 | CHATEAUNEUF-DU-PAPE Cuvée Vieilles Vignes | £61.95 | £57.95 |
The quiet, diffident Michel Maret and his elegant and charming wife Mireille run this fine domaine with their two engaging daughters, Caroline and Véronique. Founded by Michel’s great-grandfather in 1912, it comprises a number of parcels scattered around the appellation, with the best of them in the Le Crau sector, near to Vieux-Telegraphe, with its stony galets roules soil, in all a varied range of soils ranging across limestone, clay, sand and stone. There is also a 7 hectare parcel in the village of Vacqueyras.
The domaine came onto my radar a few years ago, and I feel confident that it is offering some of the finest values in the entire appellation. The richly accessible, authentic Vacqueyras and the mere 170 cases of increasingly elegant white Châteauneuf apart, there are a handful of cuvées headed up by the full, plummy Cuvée Domaine, 70% Grenache from vines planted in the 40s and 50s, with the balance shared equally between Mourvèdre and Syrah, and the more site specific Mourre de Perdrix from mainly 1950s and 60s Grenache on sandy soils at Courthézon, the Les Hautes Brusquières from 30-50 year old Grenache and Syrah on stony soils in the N.W. of the appellation (which Véronique describes as a more ‘traditional’ Chateauneuf for long ageing), and the very fine, supple Cuvée Vieilles Vignes, from 100 year old Grenache on Le Crau and 45 year old vines on Coudoulet, with a dash of 45 year old Mourvèdre and some sensible small barrel-ageing, perhaps the pick should there have to be one, of an excellent lineup. The sisters are utilising a higher proportion of white grapes in the red Châteauneuf cuvées, which I have no doubt has contributed to the increasing elegance and finesse of the wines.
A recent tasting at the Domaine of vintages going back from 2024 to 2010 has proven beyond doubt that Domaine de Charbonnière is now firmly established at the top table of warmly delicious, increasingly complex and well-balanced Châteauneuf. As I suggest above, they remain sensibly priced compared to some of their more renowned brethren, a secret that I suspect won’t stay secret for long. I recommend them without reservation.
The irrepressible Véronique Maret, who makes the wines at Charbonnière.