Winemaker Notes
A bouquet of garrigue and red fruits on the nose. A well-rounded palate, balanced with a lovely sweetness, with notes of cocoa and morello cherry, and a long, smooth, licorice finish.
Blend: 60% Grenache Noir, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 5% Cinsault, 5% Counoise
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Very rich and spicy, with impressive concentration and stacks of fine, soft tannins on the full-bodied palate. There’s licorice and meaty intensity in the crescendo finish. A cuvee of 60% grenache, 20% syrah, 10% mourvedre and 5% each counoise and cinsault. From biodynamically grown grapes. A small crop due to hail damage in May. Matured mostly in concrete tanks with a small number of oak casks.
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Wine Spectator
A fresh, attractive gush of cherry and plum shows beautiful lift, with a perfumy burst of dried lavender and gentle tannins, plus a tug of tar and roasted apple wood smoke. Elegance and finesse are the focuses in this highly drinkable version. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault and Counoise.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2023 Chateauneuf du Pape from Domaine de la Solitude opens with a dense, slightly oaky bouquet of dark plums, licorice, dark berries and chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied, sappy and enveloping, it’s a concentrated wine framed by velvety tannins, concluding with a long, spicy finish. The blend—60% Grenache Noir, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre, 5% Cinsault and 5% Counoise—was matured for 15 months in a combination of 10% new oak and concrete tanks.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Coming from 50% galets roulés and 50% sandy safre soils, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape is based on 60% Grenache, 15% each Syrah and Mourvèdre, and 5% each Cinsault and Counoise. It was partially destemmed, vinified in concrete tanks, and aged 15 months in 90% concrete with 10% new French oak. Sweet red and black berry-like fruits intermix with peppery Provençal herbs, dried flowers, and spice. It's beautifully textured, medium-bodied, has a pure, layered, elegant mouthfeel, and outstanding length.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.