Famille Isabel Ferrando (Domaine Saint-Préfert)

Isabel Ferrando was born in Carpentras, at the foot of Mont Ventoux. After the birth of her only child in 1997 she left her position as a senior executive in a large bank, went back to the apprentice winemaker school in Carpentras and spent two years searching for vines, set on Châteauneuf-du-Pape. In early September 2002 she was due to sign the contract to buy Domaine St.-Préfert when, two days before the signing, a storm dumped 16 inches of rain on the region in fewer than 32 hours; she completed the paperwork the day after the storm. With the backing of her future husband, Germain Giraud, she took out a loan to pay the 2.6 million euros asked for 33 acres of vines, a cellar and three small houses. Her debut vintage was 2003. By July 2014 she owned two Châteauneuf-du-Pape domaines, Domaine St.-Préfert and Domaine Ferrando, founded in 2002 and 2004, and had 69 acres of vines; she built a new winery facility in 2009. In 2020 she changed the estate's name to Famille Isabel Ferrando.

• Early September 2002: purchase of Domaine St.-Préfert completed the day after a storm that flooded vineyards across the region.
• 2003: debut vintage.
• 2009: new winery facility; as of July 2014, 69 acres of vines across Domaine St.-Préfert and Domaine Ferrando.
• 2020: the estate was renamed Famille Isabel Ferrando.

As of July 2014, Domaine St.-Préfert and Domaine Ferrando were owned by Isabel Ferrando. She served her apprenticeship under Henri Bonneau, whom she calls her master. By 2025 her daughter Guillemette had joined her.

• Owner (as of July 2014): Isabel Ferrando.
• Apprenticeship: under Henri Bonneau.
• Guillemette, Isabel Ferrando's daughter, had joined her by 2025.

The original holdings lie in the Les Serres lieu-dit, in the hottest, driest part of the appellation, planted to Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvèdre. The Saint Prefert terroirs, in the Des Serres district, combine rolled pebbles (galets roulés), gravel, blue clay and sand. F601 is an arid parcel in the south of the estate, planted with Cinsault in 1928; at 5 metres down its soil is fine quartz sand, and water sits at around 3 metres, held by a thin layer of blue clay. Colombis is a lieu-dit on a cool terroir west of the village of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, with sand and limestone soils and Grenache vines over 40 years old. Old pink and white Clairettes planted in 1940 grow among the old Grenache. The white Châteauneuf-du-Pape comes from two parcels covering 2 hectares in the Saint Prefert district, and the Côtes du Rhône comes from the la Lionne terroir at Sorgues, on red clay and pebbles.

• Les Serres: the original holdings, planted to Grenache, Cinsault and Mourvèdre.
• F601: Cinsault planted in 1928 on quartz sand, gravel, blue clay and rolled pebbles.
• Colombis: sand and limestone, Grenache over 40 years old.
• Clairettes planted in 1940; 2 hectares for the white Châteauneuf-du-Pape; la Lionne (Sorgues) for the Côtes du Rhône.

Organic and biodynamic practices guide the farming, alongside eco-designed buildings in local Luberon stone, agroforestry and a plant conservatory. F601 is fermented as whole clusters in concrete tanks with indigenous yeasts and aged 18 months in 500-litre barrels of 3 to 5 years. The Vieilles Clairettes are fermented as whole clusters with indigenous yeasts and aged 18 months in glass globes. The white Châteauneuf-du-Pape is vinified in glass globes and 12-hectolitre oak foudres and aged for six months; the red blend and Colombis are aged in foudres and amphoras. The Côtes du Rhône spends six months in concrete tanks and the Stella Ducit white six months in stainless steel tanks.

• Organic and biodynamic practices.
• Whole-cluster fermentation with indigenous yeasts for F601 and the Vieilles Clairettes.
• Élevage vessels include foudres, amphoras, glass globes, 500-litre barrels and concrete tanks.

The Châteauneuf-du-Pape red, Famille Isabel Ferrando, is the culmination of the three historic cuvées and is blended from 75% Grenache, 2% Syrah, 11% Mourvèdre and 12% Cinsault. The Châteauneuf-du-Pape white is 60% Clairette and 40% Roussanne. Colombis is 100% Grenache, about 5,000 bottles on average in three formats. F601 is 100% Cinsault of 1928, about 800 bottles a year. The Cuvée Spéciale Vieilles Clairettes, a white from old pink and white Clairettes of 1940, is produced in magnum and limited to 800 magnums. Beatus Ille is a Côtes du Rhône red of 90% Grenache, 5% Syrah and 5% Cinsault. Stella Ducit, a Vin de France white from 3-year-old Clairettes, was first offered in 2021. The range also includes a Vieux Marc aged 10 years in oak barrels.

• Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge Famille Isabel Ferrando: 75% Grenache, 2% Syrah, 11% Mourvèdre, 12% Cinsault.
• Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc: 60% Clairette, 40% Roussanne.
• Colombis (Grenache) and F601 (Cinsault of 1928).
• Cuvée Spéciale Vieilles Clairettes (magnum only), Beatus Ille (Côtes du Rhône), Stella Ducit (Vin de France) and Vieux Marc.

Wine Spectator ranked the Famille Isabel Ferrando Châteauneuf-du-Pape St.-Préfert 2022 No. 10 in its Top 100 of 2025, with a score of 94 points and 2,500 cases made. In 2014 Wine Spectator's James Molesworth wrote that Domaine St.-Préfert and Domaine Ferrando 'have become reference points for red and white Châteauneuf-du-Pape.'

• Wine Spectator Top 100 of 2025: the 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape St.-Préfert at No. 10, 94 points.

The estate sets out its aim as 'to translate the singularity of Provence, the violence of its climate, the aridity of our soils and the ardour of our people,' and its note on the red blend calls it 'complex, long and very balanced.' Wine Spectator's Kristen Bieler found the 2022 'supple and mouthfilling, with silky tannins upholding cherry, plum and pretty lavender notes.'

Primary sources (producer's own site): https://www.familleferrando.com/ (French and English page text) and the estate's English technical sheets (PDF): https://www.familleferrando.com/assets/pdf/en/Chateauneuf_du_pape_rouge.22413bf9.pdf, https://www.familleferrando.com/assets/pdf/en/Chateauneuf_du_pape_blanc.cfa9858c.pdf, https://www.familleferrando.com/assets/pdf/en/Chateauneuf_du_pape_rouge_Colombis.8f29cdb3.pdf, https://www.familleferrando.com/assets/pdf/en/Chateauneuf_du_pape_rouge_f601.2527b79b.pdf, https://www.familleferrando.com/assets/pdf/en/Chateauneuf_du_pape_vieilles_clairettes.41feace5.pdf, https://www.familleferrando.com/assets/pdf/en/Cotes_du_rhone_beatus_ille.d44de185.pdf. Secondary sources: Wine Spectator (Top 100 of 2025, No. 10; Mitch Frank, Nov 30, 2013 issue; James Molesworth, Jul 11, 2014). Last verified 2026-10-14. Where the producer's site and a secondary source disagree, the producer's site governs.