2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Grenaches de Pierre

The winemaking team of Marie Giraud and her brother, François, who have been working here since 1998, are producing some of the best under-the-radar Châteauneuf-du-Papes today. These are wines that offer richness as well as vivacity, with polished tannins that allow for early drinking. This is a relatively new estate by regional standards, having been established in 1974, with 1988 marking the first vintage for domain-bottled wines. Grapes are de-stemmed here, “to amplify fruit character and avoid tannins” according to Marie and also “to make the wines more drinkable when they are young and the fruit is dominant.” That said, I have had very good luck with aged wines (a bottle of the 2001 Les Gallimardes was delicious this past winter) from this 19-hectare (47 acres) domain, which has been steadily expanded from the initial four hectares of rented vineyards that comprised the estate when the Girauds' father, Pierre founded it. The Girauds now proudly own land in two of the appellation’s most highly regarded lieu-dits, La Crau and Les Gallimardes (eight hectares here), with the vines in those parcels now past a century of age.