Winemaker Notes
Intense nose of red fruit, crushed strawberries, with some floral hints, the first mouth is juicy and delicate. The very fine tannins are lengthening the salty and fresh finish.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Pi is a completely different beast. Based on 100% Grenache from Pignan that was partially destemmed, brought up in foudre, it has a gorgeous perfume of ripe red and black fruits, leather, ground pepper, and spice box. As with the Extrait, it’s structured, powerful, and needs bottle age. Hide this medium to full-bodied, balanced, incredibly impressive 2020 in the back of the cellar for at least 3-4 years. It should have 15-20 years of overall longevity.
Rating: 93+ -
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
All foudre-aged Grenache from the lieu-dit of Pignan (sud), Chante Cigale's 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape PI is a silky, elegant, easy-drinking expression of the region loaded with raspberry and cherry fruit. It's full-bodied but seems almost airy and supple, with a long, silky finish that doesn't lack for intensity. Rating: 92+
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.