Berry Bros & Rudd: The Feraud family of Domaine du Pegau, including daughter Laurence and the father Paul, are fervent proponents of the most traditional wine-making style of Provence and Rhone. It is widely regarded as one of the leading producers in Châteauneuf-du-Pape. The property in Châteauneuf is made up of eleven separate vineyard parcels spread throughout the Courthézon, La Solitude and Bédarrides sector of the appellation.
Owner/ Winemaker Laurence Féraud was our host. We also met cellar master Andreas Lenzenwöger. Laurence took us on a cellar tour, followed by a sit-down tasting of the Pegau wines, including a Domaine du Pégau Cuvée da Capo.
Domaine du Pégau
SommSelect.com: They may only be in their third decade, but Pégau has already topped restaurant and critics’ lists time after time. Like the illustrious Château Beaucastel, Pégau utilizes all 13 authorized grape varieties in their cuvée and extended aging always occurs in neutral foudres (king-sized oak barrels). The end result is dark, delicious, and remarkably fresh, with profound layers of minerality and spice. No heat, no syrup, just astounding depth, texture, and gorgeous aromatics. Should you be on the lookout for top examples of southern Rhône, Domaine du Pégau is a sure bet, and their “rags to riches” story only adds to the appeal. Once you taste "Cuvée Réservée," you’ll understand why they attract so much fame—their wine is classic, way underpriced, and genuinely ageworthy. We were lucky to get enough to offer six bottles per customer today—bottles any serious collector would be happy to have in his or her cellar.
Daughter-Father team Laurence and Paul Féraud have a grape-growing lineage in southern Rhône that dates to the 1600s and evidence of winemaking from 1733. Still, Domaine du Pégau didn’t formally exist until 1987. At the time, Laurence was living in Paris and returned home to help her father, Paul, farm the family’s 10 acres of vines. The following year, their first vintage was crafted in a roofless winery—it was still under construction. In an interview with the wine blog Vinography, Laurence recalled the bare-bones operation during their inaugural vintage: "We threw the bunches of grapes into the vats and then after 15 or 20 days I got in and took the [grape] must out with a pitchfork. It was my father, me, and one employee."
Money was tight in the beginning years and French wine critic Michel Bettane was their saving grace: He stumbled upon them and penned an article that resulted in much-needed exposure. Soon after, a businessman interested in importing their wines approached them. Upon tasting a few barrel samples, he requested their business, but the Férauds didn’t even have the finances to bottle their wines, so he fronted them cash in order to do so. At the time, Laurence was hand-applying every label—over 800 a day. As years passed, new cuvées were birthed, more vineyards were acquired, and their exports wildly grew. Today, Domaine du Pégau is considered not just one of the great estates of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, but the world.
Laurence Féraud, along with her father—still working in his late 70s—and a small team, farm 14 family-owned parcels around the region. Their vines, some reaching the century mark in age, are situated in various soils, mostly of clay and sand. Other parcels lie atop the classic heat-absorbing galets (round stones) of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Laurence’s holdings are predominately Grenache, but she utilizes all 13 permitted grape varieties of the appellation, both in the vineyard and her "Cuvée Réservée.” They practice sustainable farming and all grapes are harvested by hand. In the winery, a spontaneous ‘whole-cluster’ fermentation occurs in cement tanks, followed by a twice-daily pump over. After completion, aging takes place in large, neutral foudres—never new oak—for 18-24 months. It is always bottled unfiltered.
Region: Southern Rhône
Sub-Region: Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Variety: Grenache 80%, Syrah 10%, Mourvèdre 6%, All Other Permitted Varieties 4%
Alcohol: 14%
Oak: Large Neutral Foudres
Soil: Clay, Chalk, & Sand Beneath Galets
Farming: Sustainable
The Wines Laurence Poured
We tasted 6 wines, including a Domaine du Pégau Cuvée da Capo.
2015 Château Pegau Cuvée Maclura Côtes du Rhône Rouge
Château Pegau is the name of Laurence and Paul Féraud’s newly-purchased 60 hectare estate, located in Sorgues, less than 6 km from Châteauneuf-du-Pape, including 40 planted hectares of vines in the Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Rhone Villages appellations.
60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, 5% Cinsault.
2013 Château Pegau Cuvée Setier Côtes du Rhône Rouge
60% Grenache, 20% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre.
NV Domaine du Pégau Plan Pegau Vin de France Rouge
Hogshead.com: This wine is a blend of 30% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Merlot, and 20% Carignan, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Danlas, Alicante, and Cabernet Sauvignon sourced from vines averaging 40 years of age. The wine was fermented in concrete vats then aged in a mix of concrete tanks and very old French oak casks. Alcohol 13.5%. The flavors show rounded edges with hints of red fruit but overall dry, black fruit comes out by the middle. There is some depth, some minerals, and a dry structure with air. Need a little cellar time.
2013 Domaine du Pégau Cuvée Réservée Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
Sommselect.com: In the glass, Domaine du Pégau’s 2013 "Cuvée Réservée" displays a concentrated and opaque deep ruby core. The nose offers up rich notes of black cherry, currant, licorice, black raspberry liqueur, damp garrigue, purple and red flowers, wild herbs, finely crushed pepper, olive tapenade, smoked meat, and subtle baking spice. The palate is rich and dense but also lifted and fresh. Richness and freshness may sound like a paradox, but it isn’t: mineral precision enlivens your palate even as the dark fruit coats it. It isn’t overly extracted, but instead a perfect example of how satisfying CdP can be. Though this was a trying vintage for the region, the Férauds nailed it, and you can expect this to perform well over the next 10+ years. If consuming now, do so in large Bordeaux stems after a one-hour decant. Try out the attached Provençal take on venison and make sure to monitor your heat and cooking time—you want the meat to be tender, not tough! Bon appétit.
Berry Bros. & Rudd: The Châteauneuf red (a small quantity of white is also produced) is a blend of 75% Grenache, 20% Syrah, with the remaining 5% being made up of Mourvèdre, Counoise and other varieties. The grapes are hand harvested and are then fermented without being de-stemmed. The cuvaison lasts for 12-15 days and the wine is then aged for around 18 months in old oak foudres. No fining or filtration is carried out. The Cuvée Laurence is the same wine as the Cuvée Réservée but is kept in wooden cask for another 18-24 months before being bottled. These are rich, robust and concentrated wines, which tend to show at their best with 7-8 years of bottle age.
2015 Domaine du Pégau Cuvée da Capo Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
wine-searcher average price in US$: 367
‘Cuvée da Capo’ made most years and comes from a plot in La Crau. The lieu dit ‘La Crau’ is a very special plot in the Châteauneuf du Pape vineyard sites and the most famous one. It is the area towards Courthézon and particularily rich in the galets roulés, round rocks or pebbles covering the clay soil, and perfect for retaining the heat.
95-97 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Slated to be bottled in January 2018, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee da Capo is an impressively endowed wine by any measure. Aromas? Floral, fruity and spicy. Flavors? Black cherries and plums with hints of meat and licorice. Weight and texture? Ample and silky. Finish? Never-ending and nuanced. This big but balanced beauty should drink well for at least two decades. (JC) (10/2017)
95-97 points Vinous
Saturated ruby. Highly perfumed aromas of ripe dark berries, incense and garrigue , accented by a sexy Asian spice nuance in the background. Plush, seamless and alluringly sweet, offering intense black raspberry, cherry liqueur and floral pastille flavors that reach every corner of the palate. Smooth, seamless and deeply concentrated but lively as well; velvety tannins add shape to an extremely long, spice- and mineral-accented finish. The interplay of richness and vivacity here is awfully impressive. (JR) (3/2017)
2015 Domaine du Pégau Cuvée Laurence Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge
justerinis.com: An enticing, smokier tone to this than the 2013 Cuvee Reservee. Smouldering dark berry fruits with notes of cigar box. The texture is silky and the fruit lively but generous, flavours of Morello cherry and rock salt, hints of bramble. Sumptuous and free-flowing. Cuvee Laurence is the result of one cask of Cuvee Reserve being singled out by Laurence Feraud for extended ageing, which amounts to an extra two years in large oak foudres. This is only done in certain vintages. The blend is therefore the same as that of Cuvee Reservee, approximately 80% Grenache with the rest made up of Syrah, Mourvedre, Counoise and a smattering of the other permitted varieties. Approximately 600 cases were made.
Bye-bye
Many thanks Laurence for a most interesting cellar tour and tasting.
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