Winemaker Notes
Dark intense violet color in appearance denoting a rich and generous body. Complex bouquet of roasted coffee, licorice, cherry and hints of leather. Powerful straightforward taste in the mouth with dark fruit (blackcurrant), spicy (black pepper) and zan aromas.
Blend: 60% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Renaissance from Cristia is a beauty! A normal blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre that comes from old vines planted in sandy soils, it reveals a medium ruby/purple color as well as a pure, elegant bouquet of crème de cassis, jammy blackberries, candied violets, incense, and spiced meats. This ripe, powerful, concentrated, and full-bodied, Châteauneuf du Pape has awesome purity, silky tannins, and one hell of a great finish. So of the oak that was present when I tasted this from barrel has integrated nicely and this beauty can be drunk anytime over the coming 15 years. 95+
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Decanter
Organically grown on sandstone soils in lieux-dits Cristia and Font du Loup, the fruit is 100% destemmed. It's aged for 18 months, one-third in new barriques, two-thirds in demi-muids. There's a hefty Mourvèdre component, giving plenty of pungent blueberry, jasmine and violet aromas. It's very full-bodied, flowing with blackberry and liquorice flavours with some beautiful lifted juice and fine-grained tannins. Purity, freshness and power define this wine.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A 60-40 blend of Grenache (from 110-year-old vines) and Mourvèdre (from 55-year-old vines), aged in demi-muids and barriques, the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Renaissance shows more cedar and vanilla overtones than I personally prefer, with those elements riding over the top of delicate cherry and raspberry fruit and flattening out any garrigue and spice subtleties. Don't get me wrong—it's clearly a fine wine, and will clearly have many fans for its ample weight, velvety plushness and deliciously hedonistic style. I just wish it showed more vineyard-derived complexity instead of oak. Perhaps that will emerge with time.
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.