Châteauneuf du Pape, Reserve August Favier, 2018
Full robust, but assured. There are clearly more layers and more middle to this than the regular blend. Richly flavoured, muscled but with a brilliant, very pristine quality of fruit. Notes of bramble, loganberry and raspberry with a hint of salt and pepper. Impressive A whole-bunch-fermented blend is dominated by Grenache with around a quarter Cinsault and a small touch of Syrah. The vines are fifty year old vines from which Isabel Ferrando makes less than 2,000 cases a year. The vines are in the estate’s original and historic Quartier des Serres sector. Half of the wine is aged in concrete tank and half in large used oak hogsheads, for 18 months.
critic reviews
Limpid ruby-red. A highly complex, mineral-accented bouquet displays Chambord, incense and baking spice qualities, and a suave floral nuance builds with air. Stains the palate with lively, sharply delineated red berry liqueur, lavender and spicecake flavors braced by a core of juicy acidity. In a vibrant style, finishing spicy and very long, leaving notes of candied flowers behind.
Usually the most ethereal and perfumed of the cuvees at Saint-Prefert, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier lives up to that billing yet again, with floral notes that suggest rose petals and violets, delicate hints of dried spices and Provencal herbs and plenty of red-berried fruit. It's full-bodied but almost lacy in feel, with a fine, silky texture and a long, elegant finish with a surprisingly tannic edge.