Winemaker Notes
Match with: Roast partridge - Fricassee of guinea fowl with raspberry vinegar.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and seamless, with a gorgeous mouthfeel to the raspberry, mulled spice, crushed currant and melted licorice notes. Long and fleshy, with a buried minerality extending the finish. Grenache and Syrah. Drink now through 2025. 3,330 cases made.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The dense ruby/purple 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape (90% Grenache and 10% Syrah) is very sexy and rich, with a beautiful nose of blueberry, blackberry, charcoal, and tapenade. Fabulously concentrated, with silky tannins and a layered, rich mouthfeel, this stunning effort is already irresistible, and should drink well for a decade or more.
Domaine de Cristia has come on like gangbusters over the last decade, since proprietors Baptiste Grangeon took over from his father in 1999. All of Cristia’s vineyards are in the northeast sector of the appellation, with their sensational 100% Grenache Vieilles Vignes cuvee coming from 70- to 80-year-old vines in sandy soil not far from the Rayas vineyard. They apparently only made one cuvee in 2008, a normal occurrence in Chateauneuf du Pape given that vintage is average to just above-average in quality.
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.