Famille Isabel Ferrando - Châteauneuf-du-Pape 'Colombis' 2022

Isabel Ferrando’s journey into wine began with a decision to change her life. Raised in Carpentras, at the foot of Mont Ventoux, she pursued a career in banking before the birth of her daughter, Guillemette, inspired a return to her Provençal roots. With no family vineyard to inherit, Isabel studied viticulture and searched for a property of her own. In 2002, she purchased Domaine Saint-Préfert from the Serre family, producing her first vintage the following year. The historic domaine had been among Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s early pioneers of estate bottling in the 1930s. 

The heart of the estate is Les Serres, south of Châteauneuf-du-Pape village. This warm site combines the appellation’s distinctive rounded stones, or galets roulés, with layers of blue clay beneath the surface. Its old vines include Grenache averaging more than seventy years and Mourvèdre dating to the 1920s. Isabel later acquired vineyards in the northern part of the appellation, creating Colombis, a pure Grenache wine associated principally with sandy soils. These contrasting sites gave her the foundation to explore different expressions of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. 

An important influence was Henri Bonneau, the legendary local winemaker whom Isabel regards as her mentor. Her early approach also drew inspiration from Burgundy’s individual vineyard identities, leading to three Saint-Préfert reds: Classique, Réserve Auguste Favier, and Collection Charles Giraud. With the 2020 vintage, she brought those expressions together into one flagship red from Les Serres, embracing Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s historic art of blending. The estate adopted the name Famille Isabel Ferrando, while distinctive wines such as Colombis and the rare F601, made from Cinsault planted in 1928, retained their own identities.

The family dimension became tangible when Guillemette joined the winery in 2023, beginning a new chapter alongside her mother. Organic farming and biodynamic practices underpin their work, supported by attention to biodiversity, agroforestry, and soil health. A new winery completed in 2022 expanded the estate’s possibilities for fermentation and aging. Today, Famille Isabel Ferrando combines an established Provençal vineyard heritage with the personal vision of its first-generation founder and the growing contribution of her daughter.

"One of the more elegant and racy wines at this address this year, the 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Colombis, crafted exclusively from Grenache Noir planted on safres, calcareous soils and a mix of other soils, displays a delicate, perfumed bouquet of rose, flowers, dark cherries, pepper and herbs. Medium to full-bodied, layered and racy, it's deep and concentrated with velvety tannins with a delicate core of fruit and a long, ethereal finish. Matured in a mix of foudres, concrete tanks and terracotta jars, this is an outstanding wine in the making." - 96 Points, Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

"One of the stars of the vintage. With terrific concentration and silkiness, this wide-screen Chateauneuf glides over your palate so gracefully. After the great wave of blackberry fruit at the front of the full-bodied palate, the huge, fine tannins kick in, along with darker aromas wrapped around them through the long, very refined finish. A pure grenache from organically grown grapes. Drink or hold." - 97 Points, James Suckling