2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Safres

After greeting owner Sylvie Vacheron and her daughter Marilou, I embarked on a vineyard tour with Sylvie Vacheron's son Axel and long-time winemaker Bruno Gaspard. While employing biodynamic practices, the winery remains certified organic rather than biodynamic. The team favors vigorous rootstocks like Rupestris du Lot for their ability to grow deep roots quickly, penetrating the predominantly sandy soils. This ensures the vines have sufficient access to groundwater, especially during hot and dry conditions. To focus on vegetative growth and root development rather than grape production, grafting occurs only after three years. Discussing the 2022 growing season, Axel Vacheron highlighted August 13th as a critical date. Despite some hail, 40mm of rainfall revitalized the vines on that day after an extended dry spell. Even though there were initial worries about blocked phenolic ripening, Vacheron confirmed they did not encounter this issue in 2022. Before the August rain, small-sized berries led to concerns about high skin-to-pulp ratios, which could cause over-concentration of flavors and excess phenolics. However, the rainfall helped the berries increase in size, which improved the overall balance. In the cellar, Bruno Gaspard explained his practice of cold soaking at around 12°C (53.6°F) for the reds. Fermentation occurs with indigenous yeasts at temperatures up to 27°C (80.6°F) for long but gentle extractions. Total time on skins usually ranges from 30 to 50 days, but in 2022, they limited it to 30 days to avoid over-extraction. Except for Syrah, which undergoes élevage in barriques, all reds spend 12 to 18 months in large foudres. The resulting wines are rich yet alluring, with lush fruit profiles and round, polished tannins that allow for early drinking. The wines also possess ample aging potential, especially the flagship Réserve, which can easily evolve for up to two decades. The stellar 2010 Réserve tasted on this occasion should hold up magnificently until 2040. To complete the Vinous database, I also tasted the impressive 2020s, white and reds, with the Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Quartz and Réserve being standouts. Except for the 2022 Les Quartz—a lovely red nonetheless—all 2022s match the serious quality achieved in 2020.