Winemaker Notes
The 2018 Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee Papet exudes aromas of blackberry, licorice, cherry. Powerfully flavored yet elegant at the same time; more licorice and black cherry flavors, with baking spices.
Blend: 75% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, and 10% Syrah
Pair this wine alongside red meat or Moroccan lamb tagine.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Opulent yet refined, this has enormous depth of ripe plum, underlined by licorice, earth and savory notes. Very concentrated and focused on the palate, the integration of fruit, body and tannin near-perfect. The lively acidity makes the finish spring over your palate in the most delightful way.
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Wine Spectator
This is solid, with a still-tight core of black cherry and dark plum fruit liberally laced with warm stone, garrigue, tar and alder notes. Plenty grippy, with a smoldering tobacco accent through the finish. Best from 2022 through 2035.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The flagship is the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Du Papet and it’s based on 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvèdre, and 5% Syrah that see plenty of stems and aging mostly in demi-muids. Coming from the Bois Dauphin, La Crau, and Montalivet lieux-dits which are mostly sandy terroirs, the idea with this cuvée is always to make a more age-worthy, traditional wine that rewards bottle age. Lovers of old-school Châteauneuf will adore this 2018 and it has a captivating bouquet of red and black currants, peppery garrigue, spring flowers, and rose hips. Already perfumed, complex, and nuanced, it hits the palate with medium to full-bodied richness, a silky, elegant texture, ripe yet nicely balanced tannins, and a great finish. It’s a wine that’s going to age on its balance and purity more so than power and richness. It’s going to pick up even more nuance with 4-6 years of bottle age and continue putting a smile on your face over the following 20 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Decadently ripe, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape combines hints of garrigue, raspberries, black cherries and dark chocolate on the nose. In the mouth, it's full-bodied, plush and creamy textured without coming across as heavy, finishing supple and long. While some may find it over the top, for me, it retains a sense of balance in the tension between the sense of ripeness and its delicate herbal nuances. It won't be terribly long-lived but should drink at its delicious best over the next 6–8 years.
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.