Domaine St Prefert Chateauneuf Du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier 2018

Cellar for up to 15 years. Decant 1 hour before serving.

Founded in the 1920s by Fernand Serre, Domaine St Prefert was long regarded as a top producer of Chateauneuf du Pape and was one of the first local producers to start exporting its wines to the United States. In recent years the estate has been revived and reinvigorated by the arrival of Isabel Ferrando who purchased the 80-hectare property in 2002. Ferrando previously worked as a banker before switching careers to work at Domaine Raspail-Ay with Dominique Ay.

Since taking over at St Prefert she has converted the whole estate to biodynamic agriculture and expanded the domaine’s vineyard holdings. Sure to please lovers of rich and robust Southern Rhone wines, her Auguste Favier Chateauneuf du Pape is crafted from Grenache along with a smaller portion Cinsault. The grapes are sourced from Les Serres where the soil is purely composed of rocks and stones, making it ideal for growing intensely-flavoured grapes thanks to the challenging conditions.

Following vinification the young wine is aged in 550 litre oak casks for 12-15 months and is then bottled without filtering or fining to preserve the authentic character of the wine. The result is a rich, weighty Chateauneuf du Pape that’s bursting with ripe plums, damsons and black cherries along with hints of woodsmoke, tobacco leaf and baking spice. Age in the cellar for another decade or so or enjoy now alongside venison, roast beef or hearty red meat stews.