2021 Famille Isabel Ferrando Chteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc, Rhne Valley, France

ABOUT THIS WINE

The Chteauneuf du Pape blanc 2021 Isabel FERRANDO is produced on two HA in the “Saint Prefert” district, two parcels which each bring their own complexity to this great wine. Two main grape varieties come together in this wine, the Roussanne for the sensuality of Provence, the acacia flower and the sweetness, and the delicate Clairette for its salinity and freshness. From now on, this great wine of Cru succeeds its elder brother of Saint Prefert. It is vinified in glass globes and in foudres. The purity of the freshness conferred by the fermentation in glass, and the salinity and tension offered by the 12 HL oak foudres aged of two wines, ensure a great capacity for ageing for this white Chteauneuf du Pape.

ABOUT THIS PRODUCER

Isabel Ferrandos reputation for outstanding wines has grown every vintage since her first release in 2003. She launched Domaine Saint-Prfert with 13.2 hectares, purchased from the Serre family, one of the first to estate-bottle in the appellation in the 1930s. This is the heart of the winery, a single parcel called Les Serres, south of the village of Chteauneuf-du-Pape. Its one of the hottest areas in the appellation, but Ferrando manages to coax ethereal wines from this site. Under the Saint Prefert name, she had bottled three wines from Les Serres, Giraud, Auguste Favier and a classic Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The next year she purchased vines in the north of the appellation and started making the 100% Grenache cuve Colombis, primarily from the lieux-dit of Colombis, with sandy soil.

After studying her parcels for more than 15 years Ferrando started a new chapter with the release of the 2020 vintage. She decided to lean into the tradition of blending in Chateauneuf-du-Pape, making a single wine from Les Serres, and its now the flagship of the estate. She continues to make Colombis as well as her Cotes-du-Rhone, and two white Chateauneuf-du-Papes, including the very limited Vieilles Clairettes in magnum. Now, all of Ferrandos wines are bottled under the name Famille Isabel Ferrando. In 2023, Isabels daughter, Guillemette joined the family winery.

Ferrando has always farmed organically and starting in 2019, the vineyards are being managed following biodynamic methods (certified in 2022). She has very old vines in her holdings: the Grenache vines average more than 70 years old, and she still has some of the original Mourvdre that was planted in the 1920s. Les Serres has the famous galets stones on the top soil, and the subsoil has layers of blue clay and stones.

In 2022, Ferrando built a new winery with an assortment of cement vats for primary fermentations and blending. Fermentations start naturally with yeasts on the grapes and she works with whole-cluster fermentations on the Chateauneuf-du-Papes. In the cellar, Ferrando works primarily with neutral demi-muids, but she has also introduced some glass demi-johns, Stockinger foudres, and amphora.

Ferrando has been courageous from the start. Chateauneuf-du-Pape is a small town and even though she grew up in the south, about thirty minutes away, she was still viewed as an outsider. Henri Bonneau took her under his wing as her mentor and encouraged her to make wines in her own style. Over the years, she has made changes, some big, some small but as Jeb Dunnuck noted after tasting the new wines, one thing that remains constant is the incredible quality that continues to emerge from this talented winemaker. These are truly unique expressions of Chateauneuf-du-Pape and its fair to say Isabel Ferrando is at the top of her game.