2012 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

If there was ever a vintage that made him grateful that his grandfather and father went long on Mourvèdre, Vincent Avril told me, 2013 was it. Even with the domain's extensive plantings of non-Grenache varieties the yield here in '13 was only about a ton per acre, he added, which means that this will be a far tougher wine to find than usual. Not that production has been booming here in recent vintages anyway. As Avril pointed out, his total production over the last six years is roughly equal to what he'd normally produce in four vintages, "which means that it hasn't been an easy time from a financial standpoint." But we've enjoyed a great and "pretty unprecedented" run of solid to fantastic vintages, he went on, adding that he worries that the generally warmer weather is pushing Grenache to its limit, ripeness-wise. The cautionary tale, he said, is that "the older generations were correct not to rely solely on one variety, Grenache, so those who have the full range of varieties planted have been able to compensate for all the ripeness that that grape always gives anyway."

Yields in recent vintages have been "historically terrible" at this historic property, Paul Avril told me in November."In terms of production," he said, "we have basically made four vintages out of the last six, including 2013," pointing out that production in 2011 barely hit 18 hectoliters per hectare and that he had his team drop almost a third of the potential crop during the summer.Avril is fond of pointing out that he has never sold fruit or wine to the negoce and that he has never made a second wine or a super single-site or old-vines bottling either."All of the fruit that's left after selection in the vineyard and at the sorting tables goes into the one Clos des Papes," he said, adding that "it's for all intents, in a typical year, a 70,000-bottle special cuvee because it's a selection of a selection of a selection."He compares his 2012 Chateauneuf to his 2005 "because of its elegance" but also sees elements of his 2010 "because of its structure."He has no doubt that it will age gracefully, by the way.At the end of our tasting Avril opened his 2010, which is starting to close down as "the tannins are coming forward now."We also tasted his 2008, a wine (and vintage) that he thinks is going to surprise people.There's 30% mourvedre in the '08, he told me, "which is going to help it hold up far better than a lot of people expect."I found it to be quite complex already, with smoky, mineral-tinged red fruit character, good spicy cut and a long, focused finish.It can be drunk now but I'd bet on another three to five years of positive development.