2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Sophie Estevin’s son, Vincent, has completed his viticultural/enology studies and foreign winemaking stages to join his mother and aunt, Catherine Armenier at the family domain. Marcoux’s holdings now comprise 28 hectares (69 acres) of bio-dynamically farmed vines, 18 (44.5 acres) of which in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Fans of their wines will be thrilled to know that after a brief hiatus the Vieilles Vignes bottling will return with the 2015 vintage. Unsurprisingly, the VV is a knockout, in fact, it’s one of the best wines of the vintage. Marcoux’s wines are based heavily on Grenache and that variety’s low yields in 2014 and 2013 put production “at a pretty depressing level” according to Sophie. Most of the vines here are old, with an average age of 50 years. Crop levels are always low at Marcoux “and with the weather issues in early spring, during budbreak, we’re especially at risk,” she added. That’s the reason farming is so heavily emphasized here, “because the old vines need as much care as you can give them. They make great fruit but not much quantity and they need attention.”