Domaine de Valori Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2019

For three generations now the Meffre family have been creating great wines in the southern Rhône. It started with Gabriel Meffre's négociant business in 1936, from which he branched out and bought extensive vineyards in the southern Rhône. Today, his grandson François runs Domaine de Valori, an estate also founded in the 1930s. It came into the Meffre family in 1967 and has 8 hectares of vines, now on average 35 years old. Its soils are the ideal mix of large pebbles to absorb the daytime heat, and compressed sand to keep the vines thirsty. No wonder the wine has such lovely warm, ripe black fruit and spice intensity. A top vintage too. No rush with this red. Open early and enjoy with garlic roasted lamb or rich aubergine bake. Or cellar.