Winemaker Notes
This cuvée in tribute to the founder of Château de Vaudieu, shows both the finesse and the power of the Grenache. On the nose, it has notes of Provence herbs and cherry jam, while the mouth balances between a powerful fruit and a minerality characteristic of the soil.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
As always, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Amiral G. is all Grenache that comes from a single parcel near the estate. An incredible bouquet of kirsch liqueur, seaweed wrapper, black licorice, and roasted garrigue gives way to a medium to full-bodied, powerful Grenache with a stacked mid-palate, beautiful tannins, and more power and richness than just about every other wine in the vintage. Nevertheless, like all great Grenache, it stays beautifully balanced and weightless on the palate. It’s already complex but promises 15 years or more of prime drinking.
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Wine Spectator
A beauty, with captivating raspberry, plum and black tea aromas and flavors and a silky, seductive feel, this glides through effortlessly. So stylish it almost floats by, but it leaves a mineral edge to linger persistently, keeping it grounded. Drink now through 2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Amiral G is a massively ripe yet gentle beast of a wine, with layers of black cherries and dark chocolate swirled together with melted tannins. Full-bodied and supple, it's mouth-fillingly rich and not for fans of gentle introverted offerings. I have my reservations about the ageability of wines that show alcoholic warmth and dried-fruit notes on the finish, but there is no doubting the early-drinking appeal of this voluptuous sexpot.
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.