Winemaker Notes
An uncompromising philosopher's wine. This is a wine of great depth -- powerful and dense.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Enthusiast
Fragrances of vanilla, smoke and violet amplify bold blackberry and plum in this bombastic red wine. A blend of 64% Grenache, 28% Syrah and 8% Mourvèdre, it’s a rich, densely textured wine with a lingering finish marked by Bourbon and coffee notes. Appealing already for its flash, it should gain elegance from 2021 and improve through 2040.
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Jeb Dunnuck
A great vintage for this cuvée (and the region as a whole), the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Val de Dieu is 64% Grenache, 28% Syrah, and the balance Mourvèdre, all brought up in demi-muids. Fabulous notes of garrigue, new saddle leather, graphite, and assorted sweet red (and some black) fruits give way to a full-bodied, ripe, powerful wine that has remarkable elegance and purity. It's already approachable yet will unquestionably benefit from short-term cellaring and shine for a decade or more.
Rating: 95+ -
Wine Spectator
A beauty, with boysenberry, loganberry and blueberry fruit streaming through. Creamy and lush in feel, yet driven and detailed due to seamless acidity and light anise, black tea and lavender notes. Reveals a light graphite hint at the very end. Best from 2020 through 2040.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Full-bodied and plush, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Val de Dieu is a blend of 64% Grenache, 28% Syrah and 8% Mourvèdre. Brought up exclusively in demi-muids, it does show some toasty accents, but it delivers a lush mouthful of ripe raspberries and vanilla that glides to a lingering, slightly charred finish.
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.