Chateauneuf du Pape Charvin 2023 (750ML)

Laurent Charvin’s cellar holds no barrels at all: the 2023 Châteauneuf-du-Pape was fermented with a large share of stems and aged entirely in concrete. Charvin is the sixth generation of a family on this land since 1851, and the first to bottle the wine rather than sell grapes to négociants, beginning in 1990. His eight hectares lie in the lieux-dits Maucoil, Cabrières and L’Arnesque, mostly on sand in the cooler northwestern part of the appellation, and they make a single Grenache-dominant cuvée with Syrah, Mourvèdre and Vaccarèse. The 2023 is deep ruby with a plum tint, offering ripe red and black fruit, resinous wild herbs, leather, black pepper and wet petals. Medium-bodied and focused, it has ripe tannins with room to grow and a lingering close. Critics see it drinking from 2025 to 2045. Try it with slow-roasted lamb shoulder, ratatouille, or olive tapenade.