MCF Rare Wine

Be Undeniably Good:
 Domaine de Ferrand
 Chateauneuf du Pape 2017
 
The famous banjo player Steve Martin* was once asked in an interview how to make it in show business and his answer has always stuck with me. He replied, "Be undeniably good." He then expounded further upon this idea but the message was not to worry about all the peripherals around trying to develop your career and to simply focus on being excellent at what it is you do.
 
This quote came to mind for me when I sat down to write about the fantastic Domaine de Ferrand Chateauneuf du Pape 2017.  Domaine de Ferrand first came across our radar just a couple of years ago in the form of their also outstanding Cotes du Rhone. Due to our relatively recent discovery of this wonderful Domaine, the 2017 is only the second vintage we have carried of their Chateuneuf du Pape; we originally offered the 2016 in July and it quickly became one of our bestselling wines of this year. Despite this only being our third newsletter centered around a Domaine de Ferrand wine, I am already running out of superlatives. When discussing the '16, I called it a floral, dark-fruited smoky, herbaceous showstopper and suggested that it actually had the power to slow down time so I didn't leave myself a lot of wiggle room for subsequent vintages. What do I tell you now? That the 2017 can bring world peace? That it has found intelligent life on other planets? How about instead I just skip past all of the colorful language and tell you that it is "undeniably good?"

2017 was yet another excellent vintage in the Southern Rhone and Ferrand has delivered again with a textured, elegant and energetic gem. It is spicy and deliciously opulent right now but will also offer many more years of enjoyment as its fine tannins continue to slowly integrate. Yields were down across the board in the Southern Rhone due to some unexpectedly cold and wet weather that hit the area in Spring and Ferrand's old vine Grenache yield was hit especially hard by this harsh weather. Fortunately, lower yields do not diminish wine quality (in many cases, it can actually improve quality) but it does of course affect availability. So lest it seem like I'm getting off on a tangent here, my point in bringing up yields is to let you know that the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape from Ferrand is spectacular but there is not a lot of it to go around. So if you want some (believe me, you do), you need to act fast and at $49/bottle, there is no reason not to. While you will run into limited availability across the board in the 2017 vintage for Chateuneuf du Pape, you will rarely (if at all) come across this level of 'best in vintage' quality in this price range.

Domaine de Ferrand Chateauneuf du Pape 2017 $56

Also available:
Domaine de Ferrand Cotes du Rhone Syrah La Ferrande 2016 $26/bottle
 
You may order by emailing chris@mcf-rarewine.com or calling 732.675.4623 or 212.255.8870.

*Steve Martin has also proven to be quite "undeniably good" as a comedian, actor, filmmaker and writer.

Chris Conway
MCF Rare Wine, Ltd
249 West 13th Street NYC 10014
732.675.4623