Château du Mourre du Tendre

Chateauneuf-du-pape, Southern Rhône

Represented by Paul Paumel

Grand Tasting Wines:
Côtes du Rhône Villages Vieilles Vignes 2019

Plan de Dieu Cuvée Jacques Paumel 2019

Châteauneuf du Pape Prestige TVV 2019

The Paumel family has been farming grapes in the Rhône Valley for several generations. The current patriarch, Jacques Paumel took control of the estate in 1962 from his father, and in 1988, he and his wife Joséphine decided to start estate bottling their own wines using the name of the hill on which their ancient provençale farmhouse and many of their vines are situated. Technically semi-retired, Jacques and Josephine have turned over the running of the estate to their daughter Florence and her son Paul Verité.

Farming at Mourre du Tendre is minimalist and traditional. Everything is done by hand and the family has never used pesticides in their vineyards. The harvest is conducted in several passes and the grapes are carefully sorted when they reach the cellar. The Paumel family makes powerful and traditional wines and the fruit is not destemmed, fermentations occur spontaneously after a short semi-carbonic maceration, and the elevage is quite long – averaging about three years in a combination of concrete tanks and foudre. The resulting wines are charming, bold and structured with much more in common with Barolo and Barbaresco than most anything else you will find in the region. Needless to say they age beautifully and gracefully, even the Côtes-du-Rhône.