Domaine Charvin
Chateauneuf-du-Pape
Southern Rhone, France
Recommended by Robert Parker, Wine Spectator
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This old Domaine was created in 1851 and is situated about 5 kilometres north of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape towards Orange. The Domaine is now run by Laurent Charvin who at the age of 40 has been vinifying and bottling wines since 1990. Previously most of the wine was sold off to negoçiants; the Domaine is no longer “largely unknown” as Parker wrote as recently as 2001! It is now hugely, and rightly, rated by the likes of Parker, Wine Spectator and Tanzer – but with only one Cuvee and only 2,500 bottles produced, there seems to be never enough to go round…
Charvin makes just one Cuvée of sublime and compelling Châteauneuf-du-Pape and an outstanding Côtes du Rhône that has all the character and grace of the Châteauneuf-du-Pape without quite as much power, structure or complexity.
The Charvin style is for cool black fruit driven complexity, elegance and minerality. This is obtained thanks to very old vines, carefully tended in the northern sector of the appellation on mainly north facing slopes, and through a very simple and low-tech approach in the cellar. Vineyard work is essentially organic. No chemical or synthetic products are used, yields are kept low. In the cellar, Laurent doesn’t destem and both vinifies and ages the wines 100% in large concrete tank. That’s minimal interference, with low levels of sulphur, and no wood, new or old, large or small, at all.
Charvin wines are thus very pure and natural expressions of vineyard and vintage. They are rich and powerful but always sublimely well balanced and never heavy or blockbuster in nature. There’s always a touch of cool mineral freshness to liven them up with superbly ripe tannins and a complex fruit character which will evolve over many years.
About winemaker
Laurent Charvin is typical of the new generation of producers in the Rhône Valley who have decided to bottle the superb raw material that has been carefully tended by generations and has obtained spectacular results.
Wines produced by Charvin are 100% estate owner grown, vinified and bottled.
The Vine Ltd is sole and exclusive distributor in Japan and imports directly from Charvin by reefer container.
