Domaine du Vieux Telegraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape “La Crau” 2019 [1.5L Magnum]
(Southern Rhône, France) [JS 97] [WA 96+] [VM 95] [JD 94+] [WS 93, #71 Top 100]

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About the Domaine:
Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe has been run by the Brunier family, for six generations - since 1891 to be precise. The estate’s vineyards, 60 years old on average, are planted on the celebrated Plateau of La Crau, a site renowned for grape-growing in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. This terroir imparts to their wines a highly distinctive minerality, as if they have been filtered through the thick layer of large pebbles left behind when the Alpine glaciers melted, long before the Rhône Valley formed.

Notes from the Winemaker:
A classic red Châteauneuf-du-Pape, very fine and elegant. The best vintages will age for 25 years and more.

Technical Information

LOCATION: the stony Plateau de la Crau, in the south-east of the appellation, where the villages of Bédarrides, Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Courthézon meet.
AREA: 123.5 acres.
SOIL AND SUBSOIL: molasse from the Miocene epoch (1-1.5m in depth) sitting on a thick layer of clay with high stone content, and covered by the pebble blanket of Alpine diluvium generally known as “galets roulés”.
GRAPE VARIETIES: 65% Grenache Noir, 15% Mourvèdre, 15% Syrah, Cinsault, Clairette and sundry others 5%.
VINE AGE: 70 years on average.
VINIFICATION: grapes are hand-picked, with double sorting at the vine, then a third sorting in the winery. Gentle pressing and selective destemming, followed by 30-40 days’ traditional fermentation in temperature–controlled stainless-steel and wooden vats. Pneumatic pressing, then systematic malolactic fermentation.
MATURATION: 20-22 months in French oak foudres (60hl). Bottled unfined and unfiltered, then released at 2 years.
SERVING TEMPERATURE: 17°C.

97 Points - James Suckling:
"If anyone tells you that Châteauneuf is just a big red that’s never elegant, then they need to taste this masterpiece of elegance. So many spicy and savory nuances on the very concentrated but almost perfectly proportioned palate. This is both joyful and serious at the very long, focused finish. Decades of aging potential! Drink or hold." (4/7/22)

96+ Points - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate:
"The 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau is a hugely successful vintage, marked by scents of sun-warmed stones, garrigue, black cherries and black olives. Full-bodied, rich and velvety, it finishes with tremendous length and softly dusty tannins, which should help ensure a long, positive evolution." - Joe Czerwinski (5/5/22)

95 Points - Vinous Media:
"Saturated ruby. Deep-pitched red/blue fruit liqueur aromas pick up suggestions of licorice, pipe tobacco and pungent flowers and herbs with air. In a lush, weighty style, offering expansive black raspberry, cherry cola, singed plum and fruitcake flavors sharpened by a jolt of spiciness on the back half. For all this wine's richness, it's energetic as well, showing solid, spice- and floral-driven persistence on the finish, which is framed by velvety, even tannins." - Josh Raynolds (Oct 2021)

94+ Points - Jeb Dunnuck:
"The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape is ruby/purple-hued and has the classic translucent color of the domaine. It's more precise and focused than the Télégramme and will need more time, but it offers a complex, gorgeous bouquet of red and black fruits, crushed stone, wild fennel, and ground pepper. Pure, medium to full-bodied, and elegant, do your best to hide bottles for 5-7 years and it's going to keep for two decades." (11/3/2021)

93 Points, #71 Top 100 of 2022 - Wine Spectator:
"Silky and refined, with focused cherry puree, plum reduction and raspberry coulis notes racing through, infused subtly with rose petal, warm stone and lavender hints. Features nice perfume through the finish. Grenache, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault. Drink now through 2036. 12,000 cases made, 2,841 cases imported." —JM