94pts Wine Spectator

This coats the palate with raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry coulis flavors, which race along, with subtle anise and graphite notes underneath. Long and polished through the finish, with a hint of oolong tea adding range. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Best from 2018 through 2035.

92pts James Suckling

This cuvée has deep and fleshy fruit presence, impressive concentration and dark berry fruits that pervade every corner of the palate. Fresh darker plum finish. Drink now.

92pts Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

On this day, the 2015 Chateauneuf du Pape Mourre des Perdrix, off sandier soils, wasn't any more impressive than the regular cuvée. Marked by stone fruit and cherries, this medium to full-bodied wine isn't particularly rich or concentrated, just very pretty in a more delicate style. The Maret family at Domaine de la Charbonnière is now into their fourth generation, as I met sisters Véronique and Caroline at the estate for a Sunday morning of tasting with their enology consultant, the ubiquitous Philippe Cambie. The estate now consists of 30 hectares in total, with 19.5 of them in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and six in Vacqueyras. Like many vignerons in the Southern Rhône, they are using whole clusters more and more, getting more complexity and freshness into the wines. 

91pts Decanter

This wine comes from a single parcel in the Mourre de Perdrix lieu-dit found just north of Crau. The sandy soils here lie underneath galets, making this wine a kind of transition between the two terroir styles. It’s mostly Grenache, with about 15% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre. The wine is sweet, warm, open and spicy, with a palpable breadth and span to it that's less common among the pure sand wines - the palate here is rich, textured and vivid. Drinking Window 2019 - 2024. (AJ)

90pts Jeb Dunnuck

From the sandy soils around the estate, the 2015 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Mourre des Perdrix (69% Grenache, 15% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre, and a splash of Cinsault) is medium ruby-colored and offers classic notes of strawberries, cherries, loamy/sandy soil and dried flowers. It's beautifully polished, elegant and silky on the palate, and scores high on charm and accessibility.

Winery Notes

It was in 1912 that Eugene Maret bought Domaine de la Charbonniere as a gift for his wife who was a native of Chateauneuf and the daughter of a winemaker. Their son Fernand Maret inherited a part of the Domaine and enlarged it upon the birth of his son Michel.

Today Michel Maret had over 16 hectares of vineyards located in the high plateaux of Les Brusquieres and La Crau both covered with the famous cailloux roulets and at Mourre des Perdix, sandy soil dotted with larger stones.

The passion and know-how of the winemaker, handpicking of the fruit, and careful sorting at the winery enable Michel Maret to optimize all the promise of a great terrior.

The vinification at the Domaine follows the classic style: no destemming, and three weeks fermentation in stainless steel vats, after which the wine is aged in large oak fourdes for 12-18 months.