2011 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Claire Michel describes the 2012 vintage as one that will provide "a lot of immediate appeal, with fresh fruit that might make people suspect that the wines must be drunk young," but she thinks that their balance will imbue them with surprising ageworthiness.Like a number of her colleagues she points to the overall success of the 1999s, "which lived in the shadow of the 1998s, especially, but which are now proving to be even better for aging than the '98s."I've heard rumblings among old- time Chateauneuf lovers that there's been too much of a turn to modernity here in recent years, and if by modernity one means cleanliness, then I suppose that the Michel family is guilty.Recent bottles of the 2008, 2006 and 2004 have displayed the kind of classic, garrigue-driven character (so does the 2011 here, in fact) that I would think lovers of old-school Chateauneuf would love.I wonder if those consumers are engaging in guilt by association owing to the estate's relationship with enologist Philippe Cambie, whose work is wildly misunderstood by many Rhone aficionados who believe that all of the wineries with which he works make a single style of wine--all evidence to the contrary.If the Vieux Donjon wines are cleaner today, they have lost none of their classic appeal.

"A vintage to drink now and over the next few years" is how Claire Michel described 2011."There's good depth because there was a lot of selection but there isn't really the structure that you need to cellar them," she added.The 2010, which is based on 75% grenache and made from a yield of only 22 hl/ha, "is a completely different story" she said.It deserves up to a full decade more age to be showing its best, she thinks, "and after that it will keep going for a really long time, probably like the 1978."The 1999 Vieux Donjon, which I was able to taste at the end of my visit here, is showing bright red fruit and an intense garrigue character, with fully resolved tannins and a long, spicy finish.I doubt that it will be heading over the cliff any time soon but I don't see a lot more upside, either.