Winemaker Notes
The robe is intense burlat cherry with delicate ruby flashes. The nose offers a selection of subtle notes (ripe red and vanilla fruit, followed by black pepper and fresh rosewood). The attack is full of candor, bringing out the tannins and freshness. Fruit aromas complete a long finish.
Enjoy with caramelized spicy rabbit, or an autumn dish with ceps or truffles and game.
Professional Ratings
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Decanter
A delightful style of modern Châteauneuf-du-Pape, without sacrificing its warmth and power. Lush in the mouth, it has bright, lightly stewed red cherry and plum fruit and a lick of vanilla.
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James Suckling
Deep-set blueberries, blackberries and a brambly, herbal thread. The purity and concentration are both impressive. Silky, polished palate. Beautiful, nutty, ripe tannins weave through lush, dark-plum flavors.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Chorégies is the special cuvée of the estate make from 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah. It offers more garrigue, pine resin, and garrigue aromatics, loads of black cherry and black raspberry fruit, ripe, present tannin and solid acidity. Give bottles a few years.
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Wine Spectator
This has a warm persona, with blackberry and plum confiture notes moving through slowly while scorched earth, smoldering tobacco, bay and worn leather accents fill in. Stays fine-grained in feel, with the finish showing more bass notes that treble as a meaty note checks in. Has character but may be a bit rustic for some folks. Grenache and Syrah.
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.