2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier
Buying options
Tasting notes
Limpid ruby-red. A highly complex, mineral-accented bouquet displays Chambord, incense and baking spice qualities, and a suave floral nuance builds with air. Stains the palate with lively, sharply delineated red berry liqueur, lavender and spicecake flavors braced by a core of juicy acidity. In a vibrant style, finishing spicy and very long, leaving notes of candied flowers behind.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Usually the most ethereal and perfumed of the cuvées at Saint-Préfert, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier lives up to that billing yet again, with floral notes that suggest rose petals and violets, delicate hints of dried spices and Provençal herbs and plenty of red-berried fruit. It's full-bodied but almost lacy in feel, with a fine, silky texture and a long, elegant finish with a surprisingly tannic edge.
Also Grenache-dominated yet blended with 15% Cinsault, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier gives up a brilliant and complex bouquet of red and blackberries, Provençal garrigue, lavender, peppered meat, and baking spices. Rich, full-bodied, and with another level of concentration over the classic cuvee, this is another incredibly classy, seamless, flawlessly balanced wine that does everything right. It’s certainly great today yet has building tannins and is going to evolve for 15+ years.
85% Grenache, 15% Cinsault. Aged for 15 months in old oak. Cask sample. Tasted blind. Earthy, almost fungal nose followed by very grippy tannins and juicy red fruit on the palate. Tough and chewy on the length – worth cellaring.
About the producer
Domaine Saint-Préfert was one of Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s leading names, known for crafting some of the region’s most elegant wines. The wines are now bottled under the Famille Isabel Ferrando name.