Plan Pegau + Plan Pegau, Plume Bleue, Feraud - Brunel, Red Note    

Plan Pegau, Plume Bleue, Feraud - Brunel, Red Note

Introduction to the Above

Throughout this book I try to provide accurate information about the producers and wines represented by Hand Picked Selections. For the most part accuracy should be quite high. However these pages will certainly contain inaccuracies and will probably be out of date by the time you read this.

Laurence, with Paul & Mark

The reason is that Laurence Feraud is a force of nature, a little larger than life. She has more ideas in a day than many people have in a lifetime. What is most impressive is that she manages to act on most of them. Then when changes need to be made, they are made immediately with no backward glances. Not only is everything always in flux; Laurence, Paul and Mark are all overwhelmingly focused on the flavors of the wines they produce, and correspondingly underwhelmingly focused on the technical aspects. Blends are subject to change without notice. One cuve containing a mix of varietals may be substituted for another with a different mix if it is going to taste better. Calculation of the percentages of varietals involved is on the back burner. In fact it may never be done.

A Few Examples, to Give You Some of the Flavor

Plan Pegau used to be a wine Estate Bottled at Domaine du Pegau, mostly from a few parcels of land just outside of Chateauneuf owned by the Ferauds. Today it contains wine from those parcels blended with wines from Mark Fincham’s vineyards in Costieres de Nimes, often blended with lesser lots of the Chateauneuf. A lovely sample of Plan Pegau Lot #2004 was sent for my approval. Good wine, but it didn’t have enough of that Rhone ‘funk’. I held my breath until I turned blue in the face and finally Laurence provided a little more declassified 2002 Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape for my blend. The wine being sold in Europe is not the same.

Last year Laurence lauched ‘Pelican Bleu’ a kicky, cheerful blend of Grenache and Syrah from Mark’s vineyards. A major European beer brand named Pelican kindly informed them that if they didn’t change the name, they would be sued into oblivion. So the wine is now called ‘Pegovino’, except that everybody in the U.S. loathed the name, so ours is called ‘Plume Bleue’, but the wine is the same as what the Europeans buy as ‘Pegovino’.

Is everything perfectly clear?

The Wines, as Far as I Know:

Plan Pegau
The current release is Lot #2004. The wines are mostly Grenache, with a fair amount of Carignan and Syrah, and probably some Merlot, maybe Cabernet and maybe still a drop of Madeline Angevine. Much of it was aged for half a year in small oak barrels that are older than dirt. Total possible production of Plan Pegau is a maximun of about 4000 cases a year, of which 1500 - 2000 can come to the U.S. This wine is sold exclusively in the U.S. by Hand Picked Selections.

Plan Pegau is a wine of medium body and large flavor. The style and weight are usually comparable to a good Cotes du Rhone (not the Beaujolais style!). What makes Plan Pegau special is a true and loud echo of the flavor and style of Domaine du Pegau Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It is a major goal of Hand Picked Selections that all of the wines sold have character and personality. Plan Pegau is a prime example.

Plume Bleue
This Vin de Pays is a blend of 50/50 Grenache and Syrah from Mark Fincham’s vineyards in Costieres de Nimes (Mark’s vineyards are split between Vin de Pays and Appellation Costieres de Nimes. The goal is to produce a very ripe yet lively, unoaked red wine of moderate price to be enjoyed with everyday meals. It is lighter in body than Plan Pegau, more fruit-driven. It is a gulper, not a sipper.

Production of this wine is currently about 5000 cases a year. However if sales warrant, capacity is expandable as Mark Fincham can source comparable wines from other growers in Generac where his vineyards are located. As the style is exactly what Americans are looking for in a one-step-up from basic red wine and the price remains very reasonable, production could increase quickly.

Feraud - Brunel
This a a joint venture between Laurence Feraud of Domaine du Pegau and Andre Brunel of Domaine les Cailloux. However Laurence’s husband Mark Fincham is increasingly involved in the business. The objective here is to produce moderate quantities of Cotes du Rhone and Cotes du Rhone - Villages, along with smaller quantities of wines from more prestigious Appellations. The current lineup includes Cairanne, Rasteau, Vacqueyras, Gigondas and Chateauneuf-du-Pape. Cotes du rhone and Cotes du Rhone - Villages are sourced from multiple growers. The other wines (except Cairanne) are purchased from one single grower each under long term contract.

Hand Picked Selections is the exclusive American importer for the Cotes du Rhone - Villages, the Vacqueyras and the Gigondas. The other wines are not imported by HPS.

Production of Cotes du Rhone - Villages is about 5000 cases, with 1500 imported. The team at Feraud - Brunel looks on Cotes du Rhone and this Appellation as wines that are inherently light in body. As HPS is looking for beefier versions, in each vintage a percentage of Cairanne is blended into the ‘Villages’. As there are multiple sources for this wine, production can be increased.

There are about 1000 cases of Vacqueyras, with about 3 - 400 imported. There are about 1500 cases of Gigondas, with 4 - 500 imported. The objective for these wines is to bottle a quality that is near the very finest of each of these excellent Appellations.

Red Note
This is Mark Fincham’s own wine, the only one he Estate Bottles from his Costieres de Nimes vineyard. 2003 is the first vintage. It is a blend of 75% Syrah, 25% Grenache from the best and oldest parcels of vines on Mark’s 70 acre Estate. The wine is aged 10 months in old French oak barrels.

The style nicely balances the Rhone-like terroir and flavors of the finest Costieres de Nimes with a big, somewhat oaky, fruit-driven international style appreciated in the principal markets of the U.S. and the U.K. Production is about 1500 cases, with 300 coming to the U.S.