Winemaker Notes
Aromas of blackberry, licorice, cherry. Powerfully flavored yet elegant at the same time; more licorice and black cherry flavors, with baking spices. A wine to age.
The estate’s top wine, made only in the finest of vintages. A selection of fruit from the estate’s best-situated parcels, ‘Montalivet,’ ‘La Crau’ and ‘Bois Dauphin.’ The oldest parcel of Grenache vines was planted in 1901. Soils are mostly sandy, with some ‘galets roulés,’ or large quartz stones.
Blend: 90% Grenache, 5% Mourvèdre and 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Cuvée Du Papet is made in a more structured, age-worthy style and is 90% Grenache and 5% each Syrah and Mourvedre. Its slightly darker ruby color is followed by a gorgeous perfume of savory red and black fruits, ground pepper, garrigue, and chalky minerality. These all carry over to the palate, where the wine is full-bodied, has a dense, powerful mid-palate, lots of ripe tannins, and a great, great finish. It needs to be hidden for 4-5 years and will evolve beautifully over the following two decades. I suspect it will be one of the longest-lived wines in the vintage. Best after 2026. Rating: 96+
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James Suckling
So deep yet so refined, this great Chateauneuf combines stacks of black fruit with notes of tar and licorice, with flashes of red fruits lightening the picture. The huge fine tannins and the interplay with the beautifully ripe fruits provide the base for this majestic wine. Very long spicy finish. A cuvee of 90% grenache from century old vines with 5% syrah and 5% mourvedre.
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Wine Spectator
An alluring wine, with a mix of ripe damson plum, red currant and spice cake wrapped around a core of firm iron. Reveals clove and apple wood smoke that add depth and warmth, and the long finish is powered by minerality and grainy tannins. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and Cinsault. Best from 2024.
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.