Christened by Robert Parker as “one of the world’s truly magnificent wines”, this rarity is one of the most limited and sought-after wines of Châteauneuf. The fruit comes from three crown-jewel parcels of exceptionally old vines in Charbonnières and Les Esqueirons. Charbonnières (planted in 1900) lies on the northern side of the Crau plateau, mostly on sandy soils with molasse sandstone. The vines are nearly all Grenache with a few rows of Mourvèdre. The plot in Les Esqueirons lies behind the famous château ruins on the hill's western side. Here, the Grenache vines (and some Roussanne) are rooted in limestone and white clay. Some were planted in 1900, and the rest in 1949.
The fruit is treated in the same minimalist fashion as the classic bottling. Thus, what you taste over and above that wine simply reflects the fruit of these ancient vines and their terroirs. No new oak is used throughout the maturation; the wines ferment naturally and are raised for 18 months in concrete and large oak foudre before being bottled unfiltered. The Vieilles Vignes is only bottled in great vintages—which, in a way, says it all. The reviews below describe the wine nicely. 2021 has delivered an outstanding Châteauneuf-du-Pape; few in the region will have made a finer wine this vintage than the Armenier family.