Winemaker Notes
Aromas of peach, apple and nectarine, with light floral notes and a touch of minerality. Clean, crisp and fresh, with great acidity.
Blend: 60% Clairette, 20% Grenache blanc, 10% Roussanne, 10% Bourboulenc.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
An excellent white Chateauneuf that displays the strengths of the vintage. Intense preserved lemon and lime aromas are married to a compact structure on the full-bodied but focused palate. Some sage and thyme, too. Impressive drive and energy in the racy finish. A cuvee of 60% clairette, 20% grenache blanc, 10% roussanne and 10% bourboulenc.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Offering more orchard fruits, minty herbs, mineral, and a similar subtle hint of petrol, the 2024 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Réservée Blanc is medium-bodied, supple, beautifully textured, has nicely integrated acidity, and outstanding length. It needs a year in bottle and will have a solid 10-15 years of prime drinking. It's cut from the same cloth as the 2023 but is perhaps a touch more chiseled and focused. Drink 2026-2040.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend of 60% Clairette, 20% Grenache Blanc, 10% Bourboulenc and 10% Roussanne, the 2024 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Réservée is a lovely wine, opening with aromas of confit citrus, white flowers, herbs and pear. Medium- to full-bodied, ample and satiny, it is layered and enveloping, built around a fleshy core of fruit, and concludes with a long, delicately smoky finish. It matured for eight months in stainless steel.
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Vinous
Coming in at eye level with the 2023 I tasted last year, the 2024 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Cuvée Réservée shows well, offering pronounced aromas of dried chamomile, straw, honeysuckle and crushed rocks. Refined and complex, this medium- to full-bodied white is framed by bright acidity, showcasing elegance and vitality over power. It closes with a gentle phenolic bite on the long, sapid finish. This can be enjoyed right out of the gate.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
Famous for its full-bodied, seductive and spicy reds with flavor and aroma characteristics reminiscent of black cherry, baked raspberry, garrigue, olive tapenade, lavender and baking spice, Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the leading sub-appellation of the southern Rhône River Valley. Large pebbles resembling river rocks, called "galets" in French, dominate most of the terrain. The stones hold heat and reflect it back up to the low-lying gobelet-trained vines. Though the galets are typical, they are not prominent in every vineyard. Chateau Rayas is the most obvious deviation with very sandy soil.
According to law, eighteen grape varieties are allowed in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and most wines are blends of some mix of these. For reds, Grenache is the star player with Mourvedre and Syrah coming typically second. Others used include Cinsault, Counoise and occasionally Muscardin, Vaccarèse, Picquepoul Noir and Terret Noir.
Only about 6-7% of wine from Châteauneuf-du-Pape is white wine. Blends and single-varietal bottlings are typically based on the soft and floral Grenache Blanc but Clairette, Bourboulenc and Roussanne are grown with some significance.
The wine of Chateauneuf-du-Pape takes its name from the relocation of the papal court to Avignon. The lore says that after moving in 1309, Pope Clément V (after whom Chateau Pape-Clément in Pessac-Léognan is named) ordered that vines were planted. But it was actually his successor, John XXII, who established the vineyards. The name however, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, translated as "the pope's new castle," didn’t really stick until the 19th century.