Winemaker Notes
Pairs well with fish in a buttery sauce, seafood, and white meats especially veal.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has a very chiseled feel with some modern, toasty oak that adds spicy and meaty aromas to the attractive lemons and fresh green apples. The palate has very attractive acidity and dialed-in freshness. Grapefruit and grilled lemon flavors here. Toasty-oak finish. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
La Nerthe's whites are stunning in 2018. The 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc features scents of crushed stone, pineapple and tangerine, while being plush and ripe on the palate. It's full-bodied yet not fat or unbalanced, with vibrant, lime-like acids that prolong the silky-textured finish. Yum!
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Vinous
The 2018 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc unfurls aromas of orange zest, dried ginger, candied pineapple, honey and beeswax. Medium to full-bodied, this is a lovely white, framed by moderate levels of soft acidity, concluding with a sapid finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The light gold-colored 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc checks in as 42% Grenache Blanc, 41% Roussanne, and the rest Clairette and Bourboulenc, brought up in 20% new oak. It offers a vibrant bouquet of apple blossom, tangerine, spice, and a kiss of salty minerality. This medium-bodied, nicely textured, beautifully balanced white can be drunk today or cellared for 10-15 years or more.
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.