Just when you think you have tasted the very best expression nature can offer, along comes another vintage which just leaves you speechless. It happened in 1989 / 90 in Bordeaux and here we are in the Southern Rhone with an exceptional pair of vintages from two legendary families which will keep winelovers entranced and intrigued for many years to come.

This is the newest release from the rom the Vieux Télégraphe stable; Piedlong - a Châteauneuf-du-Pape that is made mostly from very old Grenache planted on an extremely stony windswept unirrigated high plateau. A wine made according to a philosophy at once traditional (some stemmed grapes and lengthy maceration) and hands-off and aged in large barrels for two years will surely tend towards a balance of richness and elegance. This is certainly the case with Piedlong right from its first vintage it has made its mark with a real personality hitherto concealed in the estates general blendings.

Piedlong; a Châteauneuf-duPape perfectly pitched between richness, freshness, robustness and femininity, velvet and minerality.

"The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Piedlong comes at you with waves of flowing stone fruit, from cherries, to apricots, to plums. It's richly concentrated yet velvety, with a long, peppery finish. It looks to be a beauty.
94-96 Points.

Daniel Brunier said that all of the estate's 2016 reds are 15.5% alcohol or more, yet I didn't find excessive heat in any of them—a testament to the richness of the wines and the balance achieved in this vintage. With similar growing seasons and yields between 2015 and 2016, Brunier says, "I don't know where comes the differences." The family's joint venture with American importer Kermit Lynch, Domaine Les Pallières, is also worth a strong look."
(Joe Czerwinski, Robert Parkers The Wine Advocate, October 2017)