On another level, the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape les Grenaches de Pierre is one of the stars of the vintage (and a wine I’ve rated 100 points on more than one occasion). Stunningly beautiful on all accounts, it boasts off-the-charts richness and depth to go with incredible aromas and flavors of black raspberry, cassis, crushed flowers, licorice and sappy garrigue. It has superb concentration, a stacked mid-palate and layers of sweet tannin that emerge on the finish. Like all of Marie’s wines, it has the purity and texture to drink nicely on release, yet the backend depth and structure to evolve gracefully. It’s an incredible example of old vine Grenache that should not be missed! One of my favorite estates in the Southern Rhone, Domaine Giraud is run by the brother/sister pair Marie and Francois Giraud, with Marie making the wines and Francois managing the vineyards. Created in 1974 by Pierre and Mireille Giraud, it wasn’t until 1998 that they bottled their first release (both a traditional Chateauneuf and a Cuvee Les Gallimardes). While some estates have a difficult transition from generation to generation, in this case, Pierre let Marie make the wines in 2001, and after tasting the results, quickly gave her full rein. In addition, Philippe Cambie lends his consulting advice here. The style certainly leans toward the hedonistic end of the spectrum, but the wines always have beautiful purity and classy, balanced profiles. For this tasting, we started with their Les Gallimardes cuvee and finished with the Les Grenache de Pierre. I’ve listed the wines in the order tasted. In addition to superb reds, they made a rock-solid white. Starting with the Les Gallimardes cuvee, this bottling comes all from the Les Galimardes lieu-dit that’s located in the southern, warmer portion of the appellation. The soils here are mostly rolled pebbles, and the vines are over 100 years in age. The wine is almost all Grenache (roughly 10% Syrah), completely destemmed (as of 1999) and has the Grenache aged all in tank and the Syrah all in smaller barrels. It’s always a rich, sexy and full-throttle effort, yet to me, it offers thrilling Chateauneuf du Pape character and is easily one of my favorite wines. Compared to the Les Grenache de Pierre release, the Les Gallimardes is more exuberant, overflowing and hedonistic. In addition, they implemented a stricter selection for this cuvee in 2005 and moved to using only their older vines. I think it shows, as current releases have additional depth, concentration and purity. Moving to their Grenaches de Pierre releases (which translates to “Grenache of their Grandfather”), this cuvee comes from 100-year-old vines planted in the sandy soils of the La Crau and Pignan lieux-dits. It’s made from 100% Grenache and aged almost completely in concrete tank. It’s always slightly more polished than the Les Gallimardes release and has beautiful complexity and purity, while not skimping on the textured or depth of fruit that’s present in all of Marie’s wines. Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565

While no Chateauneuf du Pape Les Grenaches de Pierre was produced in 2009, the 2010 is spectacular. Its dense black/purple color is hard to believe given the fact it is 100% Grenache aged entirely in concrete. Deep, full-bodied and unctuously textured, it boasts off-the-charts richness as well as potential complexity. One of the greatest young Chateauneuf du Papes I have ever tasted, it is one of the few 2010s that eclipses what the estate achieved in 2007. The 2010 should turn out to be one of the wines of the vintage. Unfortunately, there are only around 250 cases made each year, perhaps even less in 2010 due to the loss of about 30-40% of the Grenache crop due to poor flowering. If you haven’t discovered Giraud, it’s time to jump on their bandwagon.(Not yet released)This morsellated estate, which has nearly 50 acres of vines (all organically farmed) spread throughout the appellation, has been resurrected and reinvigorated by Francois and Marie Giraud, whose cellars are in the northwest area of the village of Chateauneuf du Pape, close to Clos du Mont Olivet. Philippe Cambie, the consulting oenologist, has helped make this one of the up-and-coming super-stars of the appellation. In top vintages, three cuvees are produced, the classic Tradition along with single vineyard offerings from the Les Gallimardes lieu-dit and a spectacular wine called Les Grenaches de Pierre from 105 year old Grenache vines planted in pure sand from the Grand Pierre lieu-dit adjacent to Chateau Rayas. A white Chateauneuf du Pape is also produced. The 2009 red Chateauneuf du Papes performed better from bottle than they did last year from barrel.Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, Charlotte, NC; tel. (704) 358-1565