The 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape is a powerful, dense, inky/ruby/purple-hued, quintessential example of Provencal winemaking with lots of graphite, black currant, kirsch, licorice, and herbs de Provence/bouquet garni notes, tremendous density as well as a supple richness, good precision and overall freshness. Enjoy it over the next 10-15 years. One of the most passionately run estates in all of Chateauneuf du Pape is Domaine Saint-Prefert, which is located in the southern sector of the appellation. Isabel Ferrando, who had been in the banking business, fell in love with wines from this region and ended up buying an estate with her husband. She now owns 55 acres, and has followed a blockbuster showing of her 2003s with a succession of brilliant wines through 2011. In addition to her three distinctive cuvees of Chateauneuf du Pape, she also produces a wine called Colombis, a 100% Grenache Chateauneuf du Pape sold under her own name. She also produces one of the finest dry whites of the appellation, a Special Vieilles Vignes cuvee of old vine Clairette. All in all, this estate is at the top of its game. In his brilliant book on Chateauneuf du Pape, Harry Karis got it right when he called Isabel Ferrando’s wines “semi-modern.” Certainly all the St. Prefert Grenache is aged in tank (old fashioned for sure), and the Mourvedre (a dominant component of the Charles Giraud cuvee) spends time in demi-muids. The Colombis is given a slightly different treatment as it is aged in truncated cone-shaped oak vats or foudres. Isabel Ferrando’s 2011 white wine offerings include a basic Chateauneuf du Pape blanc and what is one of the two or three candidates for the 2011 white wine of the appellation, her old vine cuvee of Clairette. A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300

The 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Classique is 85% Grenache and the rest Cinsault and Mourvedre. Eighty percent is aged in tank and the rest in two- to three-year-old demi-muids. This wine displays a dense purple color along with notes of bay leaf, tobacco leaf, cassis, kirsch, licorice and subtle smoke. This is a delicious, precise, elegant style of Chateauneuf du Pape to drink over the next 12-15 years. (Not yet released)Isabel Ferrando is a great story. Coming from the banking business outside of the Rhone but loving the wines, along with her husband, she acquired an estate of over 42 acres and has since added some additional acreage, now totaling 55 acres. Domaine St.-Prefert is one of a handful of estates that made great wines in 2003, following that up with strong performances in 2005 and 2006, producing blockbusters in 2007, and now hitting pay dirt again in 2009 and 2010. The only change she has made during that period is that both in 2009 and 2010, she has gone to 100% stem inclusion during her fermentation. Otherwise, the different blends and the elevage remain the same. If you haven’t discovered it yet, this is an up-and-coming superstar with three cuvees of Chateauneuf du Pape under the label of Domaine Saint-Prefert and her 100% Grenache cuvee under the moniker of Isabel Ferrando Colombis. The cuvee under the label Isabel Ferrando (a label that changes each year) is 100% Grenache made entirely from 60- to 105-year-old vines. The 2010 was aged in 600-liter demi-muids rather than the truncated oak vats that the 2007 was aged in.A Daniel Johnnes Selection, imported by Michael Skurnik, Syosset, NY; tel. (516) 677-9300