Rare, certified-organic white Châteauneuf built mostly on old-vine Clairette Rose with a touch of Bourboulenc. Fresh, floral and citrus-led at a restrained 13% ABV, showing purity and mineral drive over weight.
Made from 50yo vines on a steep west facing hillside in sandy soil. A few too many CNDP whites are oily and alcoholic, but this is far removed. Aged in stainless steel, there is a little hint of reduction, nicely layered fruit, with notes of ripe lemons, pears with floral and spice notes.
Notes on the producer
The family estate was created back in 1851, but it wasn’t until Laurent Charvin joined his father Gérard in 1990 that the estate bottled off their own wines. Such was the critical approval that very rapidly followed, they were soon bottling all their wines themselves and selling none to the négoce. Laurent has 8ha of CNDP averaging 50yo that are planted towards Orange in the cooler northern sector of the appellation, with holdings in the lieux-dits of Cabrières, L’Arnesque, Le Deves, all close to the southern end of the plateau of Mont-Redon. Here the soils are a mix of sand, limestone-clay and Rhône’s famous ‘galets roulés’.
He works organically out in the vineyards, and winemaking is stripped down to the essentials with 100% whole bunches used for both reds, a light crush to start with, daily remontage ensuring the cap is kept moist during a 20 days fermentation, and concrete vat ageing with no sulphur during 16 to 18 months for the CDR and 21 months for the CNDP. The wines are unfiltered but lightly fined before bottling with total sulphur around 45mg/l.
