Winemaker Notes
Blend: 80% Roussanne, 15% Grenache Blanc, and 5% Picardan, Clairette, and Bourboulenc
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Reminding me of the 2012, the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Blanc, which was just bottled two weeks ago, has fabulous richness and depth in its honeysuckle, tangerine, white flowers and buttered almond-like aromas and flavors. It too shows the freshness and purity of the vintage, with integrated, yet juicy acidity, good concentration and serious length.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and lush, with delicious Jonagold apple, creamed pear and melon flavors. Shows a buttered edge on the finish, delivering hints of verbena and bitter almond for contrast. Drink now through 2020.
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Wine Enthusiast
This white wine seems to channel the stony soils of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, displaying aromas of crushed stone and melon. That's backed up by ample weight and more stoniness on the palate and a long, mouthwatering finish featuring hints of ginger and white pepper.
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.