Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A seductive nose of cherries, wild berries, cocoa powder, vanilla and some dried herbs. Medium body with fine tannins. Juicy and creamy with a polished structure. Poised and silky with a succulent core of cherries at the finish. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Reveals a meaty, wild game quality that infuses a broad range of red plum and roasted garrigue notes, all supported by black tea tannins. Nicely savory, with cigar box and smoldering spice elements that glide through the lingering finish. Open-knit and beautifully textured, this is pretty and solid. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Drink now through 2035.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
La Nerthe's 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape offers up subdued hints of leather, black cherries and plum on the nose. A blend of 39% Grenache, 33% Mourvèdre and 25% Syrah, with a few percentages of other permitted varieties, it's full-bodied and powerful but not overly concentrated, with a velvety feel on the dark chocolate-tinged finish. I'd opt for drinking it on the young side.
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Vinous
Vinified from certified organic grapes, the 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a little reductive at this showing. Time in the glass brings out ripe red fruits mingling with licorice and leafy undertones. Smooth tannins gently frame the medium- to full-bodied 2021, culminating in a bright and fruit-driven 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.