Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Lots of taut sinew here supporting the beam of black cherry, plum, tar and mineral flavors, with sweet earth, tobacco and cocoa powder on the finish. This wine has gotten progressively bigger over time and still seems in its ascendancy. Terrific focus and purity.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
From a hot year - with rain at harvest - that benefited later-picking estates, the 1995 Chateauneuf du Pape is still impressively young and vibrant, with a solid kick of tannin. Possessing a masculine edge to its licorice, smoked meats, peppery herbs and both red and black fruits, it's medium to full-bodied, concentrated and a little edgy on the palate, with plenty of similarities to the 2005. It certainly has another decade of longevity, but the tannin will be something to watch. I've had more ready to go bottles from my cellar and certainly see no reason to hold off here.
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Jeb Dunnuck
I was able to taste the 1995 Châteauneuf Du Pape at the estate with Vincent, and it's fully mature, offering classic notes of spiced red and black fruits, old leather, garrigue, and loamy soil. All destemmed (1991 was the first vintage where the wines were destemmed), it has a touch of textbook 1995 austerity, medium body, good balance, and a great finish. As always with this great estate, the wine is balanced and classy and a joy to drink.
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.