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 $80 and the sky’s the limit. So this one is a find!