2024 Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, Southern Rhone

Based on 40% Clairette, 25% each Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, and 10% Bourboulenc and brought up sur lie in barrels, demi-muids, and 30-hectoliter foudres, the 2024 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc exudes aromas of honeyed stone fruits, crushed minerals, white flowers, brioche, and a hint of almond paste. It's medium to full-bodied, with a pure, focused, elegant mouthfeel and a great finish. This is a quintessential, ultra-classic, balanced, impeccably made Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc that needs 2-3 years of bottle age and will keep for 10-15 years in cold cellars. Drink 2027-2040.

95 points Jeb Dunnuck, November 2025

A driven, precise and well-composed white with aromas of green apples, sweet lemons, warm herbs, fennel and almond powder. It’s medium- to full-bodied with an attractive, textural mid-palate. Plenty of minerality adds freshness and balance. Flavorful, tactile and long. Drink or hold.

95 points James Suckling, April 2025

From the stony plateau of La Crau, where galets roulés soak up the sun and release it slowly through the night, this white Châteauneuf du Pape carries the same sense of place as the estate’s reds, just expressed through texture and detail rather than power. The Brunier family, custodians of Vieux Télégraphe for generations, treat these parcels with the same care, working a classic blend led by Grenache Blanc with Clairette and Roussanne shaping both structure and aromatics.

The 2024 vintage feels a touch more lifted and energetic. Aromatics open with white peach, pear and citrus zest, layered with mandarin and a gentle floral note of honeysuckle. There is a savoury thread running through it, almond, fennel and a subtle stony edge that keeps everything grounded.

On the palate it is medium to full bodied with a broad, silky texture, but there is a line of freshness that keeps the wine moving. Stone fruit and citrus carry through into more savoury territory, nuts, dried herbs and a faint saline note, finishing long with a composed, mineral edge.

Winemaking is traditional and measured, allowing the vineyard and blend to lead, with careful handling to build texture while preserving balance and clarity.

This is where it gets interesting at the table. It works beautifully with dishes that play on richness and spice, think grilled prawns with chilli and garlic, saffron and fennel seafood stew, or roast pork with apple and herbs. It also handles more adventurous vegetarian dishes, like charred cabbage with miso butter, white bean and smoked paprika stew, or roasted cauliflower with tahini and toasted almonds, the wine’s texture and savoury edge lock in with those flavours.

It is already showing well, but will continue to evolve over the next eight to twelve years, developing more honeyed, nutty complexity while holding its structure.