Walls’ hidden gems: Domaine du Banneret, Châteauneuf-du-Pape

Alan Rickman got his big break alongside Bruce Willis in Die Hard at the age of 42. Julia Child didn’t release her first cookbook until she was 50. Arianna Huffington founded The Huffington Post at age 55. Sometimes it takes a little while for the stars to align.

Jean-Claude Vidal (pictured above) grew up in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, earning pocket money working for winemakers.

His school friends, such as the legendary Henri Bonneau, soon inherited family vineyards, but without such an obvious path into winemaking himself, Vidal trained as an architect.

Eventually, he moved to Toulouse, where the prospects were better.

Scroll down to see Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for seven Domaine du Banneret wines

There were however some vineyards in the family on his mother’s side, and when the owners retired without children, an opportunity presented itself.

However long buried, dreams have a habit of swiftly reigniting given the barest hint of oxygen. At the age of 50, he acquired the plots, bought some secateurs and returned to Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Starting out

There was only one thing missing. Vidal wasn’t an experienced winemaker. But he knew someone that was. He asked his old friend Henri Bonneau to oversee his first couple of vintages – 1989 and 1990 – and show him the ropes.

Given Bonneau’s attachment to the old ways, it’s no surprise that Vidal’s wines were similarly traditional: all 13 varieties coplanted, no destemming, natural yeasts and very long maturation in old oak barrels.

Now, eight years after Vidal’s retirement, his first vintages are fully mature. I tasted the 1989 last week. Bonneau and Vidal clearly made quite a team; it’s one of the finest Châteauneufs I’ve ever tasted.

‘It was a dream for him, having worked in the cellars and vineyards in his youth,’ says his daughter Audrey Vidal, who joined the estate in 2012.

By this time, the estate had grown to 4.5ha, with vines ranging from 40 to over 80 years old. Father and daughter worked in tandem on the 2013 vintage, and her first solo flight was the 2014.

Generational changes

Audrey’s partner is winemaker Benjamin Tourbillon, whose colossal glass and metal showroom couldn’t be more different to the Vidal’s tiny cellar in Châteauneuf. I wondered if we might see a change of tack at Domaine du Banneret after Jean-Claude’s retirement.

‘I don’t want to change the profile or personality of the wine,’ says Audrey, but she would like to see a more ‘delicate touch’ to the wines, and a little more precision.

To this end she has introduced a cold pre-fermentation maceration and installed a temperature control system for the concrete fermentation tanks.

Finding manipulating the old barriques physically challenging in the small cellar, she has also invested in some larger barrels, including a small foudre that was bought new in 2015, but has no intention of introducing more new barrels where it can be avoided.

I tasted the three last vintages made by Jean-Claude (2010, 2011, 2012) and Audrey’s first three (2014, 2015, 2016) – the changes in the cellar have indeed made their mark.

Wine profile

Stylistically, the wines here have always been quite a Burgundian expression of Châteauneuf; paler than most, never pushing too hard for ripeness or concentration. That’s still the case. It’s very classic in style, and expresses the terroir and each passing vintage faithfully.

From the wines I tasted, the top years of Jean-Claude hit higher heights, but the less favourable 2011 is disappointing. Audrey has achieved her aim of greater delicacy; these inaugural vintages have a little less textural intensity but, it would seem, greater consistency.

And what about Audrey’s dreams of the future?

She’s already achieved one: introducing a white Châteauneuf, a precise and crisp style field blend grown on the limestone soils of lieu-dit Terres Blanches.

Otherwise, they are modest – to extend the estate if the right parcels become available, but not beyond a few more hectares. Perhaps to look a little further afield, to Plan de Dieu or Gigondas.

It may have taken decades to realise, but thank goodness Jean-Claude’s winemaking dream eventually came true. It’s been beneficial for him, for Audrey – and for us.

See Matt Walls’ tasting notes and scores for seven Domaine du Banneret wines

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