2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Pierre Fabre, whose extended family has owned Mont-Redon since 1923, said that he thinks that the 2015s “are as deep as the 2009s but more fresh, with the structure of 2010 but not the strict character that defines that vintage.” As such, the wines will likely be “approachable for most of their lives, which should be long” and whatever shut-down period that they might go through will be relatively brief, “which is how warm years usually behave”, he added. This historic (the sector of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape appellation where the domain is located is named “Mont-Redon”, after the estate) producer, which was established in 1344 (yes, that’s right) owns 186 hectares (459 acres) of land in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 100 of them planted to vines, is a highly consistent source of elegant, age-worthy wines that avoid the richness and extroverted character that marks many examples from the region. There’s a polish to these wines that allows them to show well young but they also possess the depth to age, as recent bottles of 1962, 1961 and 1959 have proven to me.