Domaine Roger Perrin Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc

This wine is just a total home run – it’s gorgeous to drink, it fits late winter/inspiring to spring cuisine incredibly well, and Charles Neal, an American importer whom I have learned to trust both in terms of flavor and value, brings it in. In other words, it’s just an amazing steal. I’ll do my impressions first, then turn it over to Charles for the history of the domaine.

Flavor-wise, this wine to me is an amazing combination of meditation wine and gastronomic pleasure wine. To explain – the stone fruit character is so gorgeously deep, yet subtle, that it encourages the mind to wander across seasonal pleasures of winter quietude as we look forward with anticipation to spring.

And then there is food paired with this magnificent wine – think of butternut squash roasted and tossed with toasted farro, Parmesan, olive and baby arugula. Grilled Rouget with garlic butter and thyme. Heck, even just a wheel of Epoisses with toasted bread – and this wine will make the food explode. The summation of this CdP Blanc with hearty food is so much greater than the two separate, it’s mind-blowing.

And hey, most CdP Blancs are MORE expensive than the reds – usually starting at $60 and the sky’s the limit. So at $36, this one is a find!

Now onto Chuck’s assessment:

"Vineyards have existed on the Roger Perrin property between Orange and Chateauneuf du Pape since the early 1900's. However, estate bottling only began in 1969 when the Domaine was founded by Roger who took over after his father-in-law's retirement. In 1980, the estate began to sell wine under its own name: Domaine Roger Perrin.

"In 1986 Roger died unexpectedly during harvest, and his son Luc, a teenager studying oenology and doing an apprenticeship at Chateau de Beaucastel, took over the Domaine. Luc Perrin steadily, over 24 years, increased the quality of the vineyards and his wines to become a rising star in Chateauneuf du Pape. Today, the latest generation, Luc’s nephew Xavier Rollin is in command.

"Domaine Roger Perrin today owns 40 hectares of vineyard in Chateauneuf du Pape, Cotes du Rhone and Vin de Pays de la Principaute d'Orange. Spread out over 72 individual parcels, each sub-plot has its own distinct “Mini Terroir”. And while some of the vines are more than 100 years old, the average age of the vines is 60 years old; 85% of the vines are over 20 years of age. The

"Chateauneuf vines are planted on two types of soil. The first is a clay and limestone subsoil covered by the famous galets roulés. The second type of soil contains much more sand and makes wines that show a little more aromatic and tannic finesse. Luc Perrin has recently been called a new star in Châteauneuf-du-Pape in Robert Parker's Wine Advocate." - Charles Neal, Importer

This is gorgeous wine, don’t miss it.