2010 Chateau de Vaudieu Chateauneuf-du-Pape

This in the zone now  :)  

Decanted.  Drank well right out of the gate, but really started to take off after an hour or so.

Mostly Grenache with some Syrah and Mourvedre.  Fascinating balance and complexity for a relatively young wine. 

Superb quality, refined red fruit, finely polished tannins, with multi-dimensional melange of garrigue and spice on the finish.  Looking forward to seeing how this evolves over the next few years.  Really nice wine.

Vineyard located just to south of Rayas on sandstone soils.  Cambie may have had a hand in crafting this with owner Laurent Brechet.  If so, it is one of the more elegant efforts from Cambie's stable of projects.  I think the mission here would be let the terroir speak for itself...and in that they have succeeded.

Paired beautifully with veal tortellini. 

Notes on Chateau de Vaudieu from Robert Parker in Oct 2012:

This large estate owned by the Brechet family has resurrected this real chateau, one of the few in Chateauneuf du Pape, to the top rank of estates in the village. The Brechet family has also done some remarkable work in Gigondas. Their consultant, Philippe Cambie, also deserves a lot of credit.

The regular Chateauneuf du Pape is a blend of 80% Grenache and the rest mostly Syrah and some Mourvedre. The Grenache is aged in tank and the other two varietals spend time in new 600-liter demi-muids.

The Val de Dieu cuvee is composed of 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah and 15% Mourvedre that is given the same treatment as the regular offering.

The estate’s newest effort, the Chateauneuf du Pape Amiral G, is 100% Grenache from some of the oldest vines. Chateau de Vaudieu is located east of the village of Chateauneuf du Pape, about one-half mile south of Chateau Rayas.

With over 175 acres of vines, this property could be one of the most dominant forces in Chateauneuf du Pape, and it is very encouraging to see what they have accomplished over recent years. Most of their parcels are planted in sand-based soils, but some are also planted in limestone covered with the small boulders called galets roules.

This is another organically farmed vineyard, and by the time this report is published, it may be certified as biodynamic as over three dozen of Philippe Cambie’s clients now are. The 2010s are major successes, even for this spectacular vintage.