Château Pégau Plan Pégau

Plan Pégau

WHY WE LOVE IT

  • Cuvée Plan Pégau is a Vin de France, a blend of 3 years aged in different vats, the research of a blend of fruit, spices and complexity.
  • Produced from estate-grown fruit planted just outside Châteauneuf-du-Pape, this distinctive, multi-vintage blend is loaded with character and reflects the hallmark personality and style of Pégau.
  • From Pegau’s non appellation vineyards in the Plan du Rhône, in St. Georges (near Courthezon), in Caderousse (small village northwest of Chateauneuf-du-Pape) and at Chateau Pégau , in Sorgues.
  • Plan Pégau is the “little brother” of the Domaine du Pégau Cuvée Réservée Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
  •  Vines average 40 years in age. Clay and alluvial soils dominate the vineyards. Yields are comparable to those of Chateau Pégau’s Cotes du Rhone wines (2.67 tons/acre).

Varietal Composition: 30% Grenache, 30% Syrah, 20% Merlot, and the 20% balance a mix of old-vines Carignan, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Danlas, Alicante and Cabernet Sauvignon.

Elaboration: Manual harvest with strict sorting. No de-stemming. Whole grape bunches were lightly crushed and fermented with indigenous yeasts for 10 days in traditional concrete vats. Aged in a combination of 50% concrete tanks and 50% very old French oak casks. Wines from the three different harvests were blended just prior to bottling. Unfiltered.

Tasting Notes: This rich, meaty red captures the essence of the Southern Rhône Valley, with layers of red and dark fruit character, soft supple tannins, and complex spice notes from extended aging in small oak barrels.

PRESS

Lot #15-16-17 – 90 Wine Advocate

PRODUCER BACKGROUND

In 2012, Châteauneuf-du-Pape icons Paul and Laurence Féraud purchased a 100+ acre estate in Sorgues, and renamed it Château Pégau. It is an exceptional terroir situated less than 4 miles southeast of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Loaded with classic Côtes du Rhône fruit and spice, the wines retain the hallmark stamp and identity of Pégau.

It consists of 148 acres and a large rundown Chateau of 10,000 square feet. The vineyards include 62 acres of Cotes du Rhone Villages and 12 acres of Cotes du Rhone, with the balance Vin de Table. Laurence bought it and rechristened it Château Pégau. For the first vintage, she and Paul learning their way, they declassified most of the Villages to Cotes du Rhone. The red Côtes du Rhône carries the name Château Pégau Cuvée Maclura. The Cotes du Rhone Villages (15% of the production) is Chateau Pégau Cuvée Setier. These are complemented by a white Cotes du Rhone, Château Pégau Cuvée Lône. The wines are emphatically not Chateauneuf-du-Pape, nor are they priced that way. However yields have been kept to the absurdly low limits permitted in Chateauneuf, and the wines have all of the density of that great Appellation.