Winemaker Notes
The color of this wine is clean and brilliant. Its nose is complex and bears the marks of late summer hail. If we find ripe fruits, prune, fig, crushed strawberry, but also pepper, it is the notes of dried flowers, hay and dried fruits (almonds) which mark this weather, bringing a beautiful aromatic complexity . On the palate, it is a concentrated wine where the smoothness of Grenache is balanced by precise tannins.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Beautiful aromatics of ripe cherries, mulberries, sappy flowers, and Provençal spice and peppery nuances all emerge from the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape, a blend of 80% Grenache with 10% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre, and 5% Cinsault aged eight months in concrete and 12 months in truncated tanks. It's nicely balanced and medium-bodied, has a pure, graceful, elegant mouthfeel, and supple tannins. This incredibly successful, charming 2023 will shine for at least a decade. Drink 2025-2035.
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.