80% Grenache, 6% Syrah, 4% Mourvèdre, 10% other Châteauneuf-du-Pape varieties

Food pairings: Grilled or roasted red meats, lamb shoulder with thyme, strong cheeses, and tapas or curry dishes.

Scores:

• 95 points, James Suckling

Winemaking: The grapes are harvested by hand and not destemmed. Whole bunches are lightly crushed and fermented with wild yeasts in traditional concrete vats, followed by a further maceration with one or two pump-overs a day. The press and free-run juice are then aged for two years in old 5,000-liter oak foudres, blended, and bottled without filtration.

Vineyards and terroir: The vines average more than 60 years of age, with yields of about 2 tons per acre. The estate's Châteauneuf-du-Pape vineyards lie in the communes of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Courthézon (La Crau) and Bédarrides, on soils mainly covered with galets over a mix of clay and limestone with an iron tendency, and sand. Some historic parcels, including La Crau, are still co-planted with all thirteen varieties.

Family and history: Paul Féraud began working the family vineyard at fourteen, and in 1964 he bottled and sold his first wine under his own name. After studying winemaking and business, his daughter Laurence returned to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, and in 1987 she and her parents, Paul and Odette, founded the Domaine du Pégau, named after a 14th-century Provençal wine jug from the time of the popes in Avignon. The domaine has kept to whole-bunch fermentation, long ageing and old foudres, and in 2012 the family added Château Pegau in Sorgues.

In the pictures: Laurence and Paul Féraud in the vines; Paul Féraud with the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape behind him; and the foudre cellar (photos courtesy of Domaine du Pegau).