Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Télégramme 2017

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Télégramme 2017 

Following our false start at ordering this wine at our dining out restaurant experience over the weekend, featured in a blogpost in these pages, I had a taste for this wine, and happened to have a bottle on hand at our limited cellar collection at our Cove vacation rental home in Florida. 

We’re staying at the Cove, our favorite vacation rental in Destin Florida for the week to attend the SoWal (South Walton Beaches) Wine Festival in Sandestin this coming weekend. Linda and I arrived a week early, and look forward to being joined by our Pour Boys wine group as the week progresses. 

Linda prepared delicious Beef Bourgogne, which was ideally paired with this wine for an optimal wine food combination. As readers of these pages know, I regularly write about the importance of proper food and wine pairing, which serves to multiply and enhance the enjoyment of both. 

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe Châteauneuf-du-Pape Télégramme 2017 

We know this producer and wine well having visited the Chateau and Estate in Châteauneuf du Pape in the Southern Rhône River valley outside Avignon on a couple occasions dating back to 1998 and most recently in 2019.  Our visit to the Vieux Télégraphe estate and meeting owner/winemaker Daniel Brunier (left) was a highlight of our Rhone Valley Wine Experience in 2019.

The estates lies in the Châteauneuf -du-Pape AOC (Appellation Original Controlee) in the Rhone River Valley that stretches from Orange to Avignon.

Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe has been run by the Brunier family for five generations dating back to 1891. The estate’s vineyards average 60 years of age on the Plateau of La Crau, a site known for growing Châteauneuf-du-Pape grape varietals.

The estate is named for the telegraph towers that sat on the site dating back to the early visual signal towers that were invented and deployed as far back as 1792. Lines of relay towers were built within line-of-sight of each other at distances of 5–20 miles. Tower operators would watch adjacent towers through a spyglass for signals produced by mechanical shutter arms and would pass the message on to the next tower. These early systems were faster and less expensive than horse drawn riders. These lines were a precursor of the electrical telegraph which would replace them half a century later.

The estate wines are known for their distinctive terroir signature of predominant minerality from filtering through the thick layer of large pebbles left behind when the Alpine glaciers melted, long before the Rhône Valley formed.

We hold Vieux Télégraphe wines dating back three decades to the early 1980's.  

Winemaker (s): Frédéric & Daniel Brunier 

The blend for this release is 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre with a slight bit of Syrah.

Winemaker's Tasting Notes: Châteauneuf-du-Pape seriously dominated by Grenache, which confers very singular suppleness and roundness. Best savored young.

This is the second wine of Vieux Telegraphe. Typically composed of Grenache with Syrah, Mourvedre and Cinsault from mostly young vines it often includes grapes from 45 year old vines at Château La Roquette.

This release was awarded 93 points by James Suckling, 92 points by Jeb Dunnuck and by Wine Spectator and 90 points by Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate.

Dark Ruby colored, medium-full bodied, complex classic brambly red and black raspberry and plum fruits with notes of gariggue, herbs, floral and spice from the Grenache, and cracked pepper with hints of cassis on the moderate long, rich, ripe tannin finish. 

RM 91 points.

https://www.cellartracker.com/w?3131593

http://www.vieux-telegraphe.fr/en/

Two nights later, we enjoyed finishing up the leftovers of the Beef Bourgogne, and opened from our cellar collection here this aged vintage Bordeaux, which also served as an optimal pairing.

https://www.cellartracker.com/barcode.asp?iWine=328095