Domaine du Pégaü Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée 2010

Laurence Féraud and her father, Paul, produced a stunning Cuvée Réservée in the 2010 vintage. Sourced from 46 acres of small parcels scattered around the appellation, the wine is 80 percent Grenache, with mostly Syrah and Mourvèdre making up the balance. In the winery, whole clusters are crushed then fermented in concrete vats, with regular pump-overs and occasional punch-downs to extract color and tannins. This cuvée ages for 18 months in large old foudres.

Tasting Note

Intense, with the tarry, bittersweet cocoa-fueled grip of the vintage running through a well-endowed core of crushed plum, blackberry paste and braised fig. The muscular finish picks up notes of brick dust, pepper, warm chestnut leaf and smoldering charcoal. A throwback profile, with a hyperripe core of fruit—and it works. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and others. Best from 2015 through 2035. –James Molesworth