Saint Prefert

Isabel Ferrando from Domaine Saint Préfert in Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Wines from Domaine Saint Préfert by Isabel Ferrando: buy at the best price

Domaine Saint Préfert is a historic estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, located in the Serres district, on the southern slope of the village. Founded in the 1920s by Fernand Serre, it was one of the very first estates in the appellation to bottle and export its wine. Since 2002, Isabel Ferrando has made it one of the most admired addresses in the southern Rhône Valley. A former financier turned winemaker, trained under the demanding eye of Henri Bonneau, she now farms nearly twenty-four hectares using organic and biodynamic methods, alongside her daughter Guillemette. On this terroir reputed to be too hot and difficult, she has bet on finesse and elegance, with single-vineyard cuvées inspired by Burgundian climate designations, before returning in 2020 to the great tradition of blending. The estate has since taken the name Famille Isabel Ferrando.

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Saint Préfert Châteauneuf du Pape Colombis 2018
Bio
4 in stock
93921
Red
75cl
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Rhône | Châteauneuf du Pape

Saint Préfert Châteauneuf du Pape Colombis 2018

€96.00 inc-VAT per bottle
€80.00 ex-VAT
The TOP winemakers of Rhône

The History of Domaine Saint Préfert

It all begins in the early 1920s, when Fernand Serre, an Avignon notable with a passion for wine, acquires an eighty-hectare parcel and trades his life as a pharmacist for that of a winemaker. Domaine Saint Préfert is officially founded in 1930. A pioneer, Fernand Serre is among the first in the region to sell his wine in bottles and export it abroad, particularly to the United States. The estate quickly builds a strong reputation.

Eighty years later, Isabel Ferrando buys the remaining 13.2 hectares of the original estate from the Serre family and makes her first vintage in 2003. She arrives to find a vineyard in poor condition, with many diseased vines to replant, on a terroir said to be too hot. In Henri Bonneau, whom she calls her master, she finds a mentor and friend. Rather than blend the wines as local tradition dictates, she identifies the best plots and bottles them separately. From the outset, this gives rise to three cuvées: Classique, Réserve Auguste Favier and Collection Charles Giraud. Inspired by Burgundy’s climats, these single-plot wines represent a radical approach in Châteauneuf-du-Pape at the time, but their quality earns them immediate recognition. In 2004, she creates the Colombis cuvée in the north of the appellation. Conversion to organic farming begins in 2009, with certification following in 2013, then biodynamic farming in 2020. Côtes du Rhône Beatus Ille is born in 2015, and the F601 cuvée in 2018. With the 2019 vintage, Isabel Ferrando closes a seventeen-year chapter. In 2020, drawing on twenty years of observation, she returns to the art of blending, bringing her historic cuvées together in a single wine and renaming the estate Famille Isabel Ferrando. Her daughter Guillemette joins her in 2023.

Terroirs and Vines of Domaine Saint Préfert

The heart of the estate is the Serres area, south of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, in one of the hottest and driest parts of the appellation. Its soil consists of highly free-draining rounded stones and gravel, with sand, sandstone sands, sandstone and clay varying from plot to plot. The estate has the rare distinction of encompassing virtually every soil type found within the appellation, offering an exceptional range of raw materials.

Rather than fight the site’s intense sun, Isabel Ferrando chooses to make the most of its qualities. Each plot is assessed, observed and understood, and the blends are determined accordingly. The arid F601 plot, in the south of the estate, has an unusual structure: five meters down, fine quartz sand—the final stage in the rock’s breakdown—gives the tannins their finesse, while a thin layer of blue clay about three meters down stores water and provides a precious source of freshness. In the north of the appellation, Colombis’s 3.6 hectares bring together sand and limestone from the named site, red clay, and the sandstone sands of the Rayas and Cristia area. Grenache Noir predominates, alongside Cinsault and Mourvèdre, as well as Clairette, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Bourboulenc for the whites. The estate maintains its own collection of vines for massal selection and supports biodiversity with hedges and nesting boxes.

Winemaking at Domaine Saint Préfert

The philosophy comes down to two verbs: observe and bring out the best in every plot, every soil and every vine. In the winemaker’s words, organic and biodynamic practices were simply a matter of common sense. The grapes are harvested by hand and rigorously sorted. Some whole clusters are retained for the old-vine cuvées, in keeping with the tradition she learned from Henri Bonneau.

Each grape variety is vinified and then aged separately before the final blend, allowing for great precision. The reds spend about eighteen months in demi-muids, without excessive oak influence, preserving the aromatic purity and energy that define the estate’s style. The whites are aged for six months in a combination of stainless steel tanks and used oak barrels. Given the site’s sunny character, the result is surprising: wines of remarkable finesse and freshness, with an identity that is both modern and deeply rooted, vibrant and unmistakably Mediterranean.

The cuvées of Domaine Saint Préfert

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Philia (Unique de Saint Préfert): the estate’s fine wine, first made with the 2020 vintage and the culmination of twenty years’ work. It replaces the three historic cuvées, bringing together all the plots on the Serres terroir, planted with Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvèdre, in the hottest and driest part of the appellation. It is an exceptional expression of a terroir of rounded stones, gravel and sand. Supple and enveloping, with silky tannins, it reveals cherry, plum and lovely notes of lavender, followed by toasted garrigue on the finish and a subtle yet remarkable length. Elegance and freshness in a wine ranked tenth in Wine Spectator’s Top 100.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Colombis: created in 2004, this cuvée is made entirely from Grenache Noir grown on three terroirs in the north of the appellation: the sand and limestone of the Colombis named site, red clay, and the sandstone sands and other sands of the Rayas and Cristia area. An airy, fragrant expression of Grenache, with fresh red fruit, gentle spice and a mineral thread that highlights the freshness imparted by the sand. One of the estate’s finest achievements.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape F601: the estate’s rarest and most fascinating cuvée, created in 2018 from old Cinsault vines planted in 1928 on the arid plot of the same name. It is the only Châteauneuf-du-Pape made entirely from Cinsault, a grape Isabel Ferrando describes as the Pinot Noir of the Rhône, producing floral aromas here that are found nowhere else in the appellation. Production is limited to around eight hundred bottles a year. Named discovery of the year by Wine Advocate, it is as captivating as it is hard to find.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Collection Charles Giraud: a historic cuvée produced from 2003 to 2019, blending approximately 60% old-vine Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre from the Les Serres and Le Cristia named sites, on a terroir of pure stony ground. The vines ranged from forty to over a hundred years old, with an average age of sixty to a hundred years. The grapes were not destemmed, the varieties were aged separately, then the wine spent eighteen months in demi-muids. Production was around four hundred cases per vintage. This bottle is now highly sought after on the collectible wine market.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve Auguste Favier: the other great single-plot cuvée of the 2003–2019 period, dominated by Grenache and complemented by a generous proportion of Cinsault from old vines in the Serres area. More floral and lithe than Collection Charles Giraud, it already embodied Isabel Ferrando’s pursuit of finesse on this sun-drenched terroir.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Classique: the third historic cuvée, made from the young vines replanted by the winemaker when she arrived. Fruity, generous and immediately appealing, it was the introduction to the world of Saint Préfert before the range was revamped.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc: produced since 2003, this white blends approximately 90% Clairette, 5% Grenache Blanc and 5% Bourboulenc, aged for six months in stainless steel tanks and used oak barrels. Around three hundred and fifty cases are produced per vintage of this precise, floral and saline wine, which has contributed greatly to the estate’s reputation for white wines.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Spéciale Vieilles Clairettes: created in 2009 and produced only in magnums, this wine is made entirely from old-vine Clairette. Another rarity for the appellation, almost as rare as F601, it offers a pure, vibrant expression of this southern grape, which is too often relegated to blends. Full-bodied, waxy and long, it ages remarkably well.

Côtes du Rhône Beatus Ille: created in 2015, this cuvée is a delightful burst of fruit, ready to drink upon release. Supple, juicy and lively, it offers an introduction to the estate’s style at a very affordable price.

Côtes du Rhône Stella Ducit: the white counterpart in this approachable range is fresh and fragrant, with white flowers and citrus, plus the salinity that marks the estate’s whites. Serve well chilled as an aperitif or with grilled fish.

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