For the 2010 version of this tiny production, the entry price was of 7$ per bottle from the winery. This great QPR comes from a tiny production that P. Bravay made "for entertainment, to get challenged a little," as he told me. "I tried to pick up the grapes not too late to make something fresher, fresher than an 'easy' viognier from Southern Rhone" he added. Although P. Bravay prefers his 2010, I prefer the 2011, which is a sweeter, yet still fresh, wine than the former.

We moved to the red starting by his classic cuvee of Cotes du Rhone. P. Bravay took over a market he had in the North of France to make this wine available at his domain. "For my former client, the time at which the bottle was on the shelves was more important than the wine inside of the bottle," he admitted, "I had to stop this." The result: an incredible value ranking alongside some of the finest QPR of the Southern Rhone. 5,2$ per bottle.

Moving to his cuvee antique, I found more depth and structure. It was quite more profound with notes of dark berries and a slight touch of guarrigues. It was fresh, fresher than the 2009, and will need more than 5 years of cellaring to unfold it's magic. 90+

P. Bravay prepared us a pre-assembled version of his 2011 Chateauneuf-du-Pape. It was closed and undergoing a new alcoholic fermentation; however, this sample was extremely profound and displayed a gorgeous potential.
(93-96).

This Cotes du Rhone is very surprising. Made only of Syrah, it is another exercise for Philippe Bravay, who decided to create something fresh yet not similar to a Northern Rhone Syrah. "I have neither of the terroir nor of the weather. I am looking for something intriguing, which may surprise in a blind tasting." This very good effort is, regretfully, very limited in availability.

Regarding his Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Philippe Bravay separates his barrels into two categories: one is made of 40 years old Grenache and the other of what corresponds to an assemblage of old vines (100+ years old) of Grenache, Syrah, Bourboulenc, Mourvedre, and Vaccarese. The later (97pts) an extraordinarily focused extraction of dark berries with some earthy notes, nonetheless underlined by the inclusion of the white varietal, the Bourboulenc. The former (94) is very dense, with a shorter finished delineated by a fresh, vivid, acidity.
94-97

La Ferrande 2010 was more approachable than the 2011.