Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
-
Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An amazing effort, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape eclipses what I wrote about it last year. Every time I went back to it, the wine revealed more nuances as well as greater depth. Full-bodied and powerful, it exhibits a compelling bouquet of creme de cassis, ground pepper, incense, seaweed, garrigue, and licorice. The knock-out aromatics are followed by a wine with colossal richness, a multilayered texture, no sense of heaviness, an incredibly deep, penetrating palate feel, and a finish that goes on for 50+ seconds. Philippe Bravay is one of the most modest and serious Chateauneuf du Pape vignerons, and it is a thrill to see him hit a home run in this vintage. For statisticians, it is made from 80- to 85+-year-old vines from two of the great sectors of Chateauneuf du Pape, La Gardiole and Cabrieres. It is composed of 90% Grenache and the rest Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault. Moreover, it is the quintessential traditional Chateauneuf du Pape aged 12-14 months in tank before being bottled without filtration. The dense purple-colored 2007 will benefit from 2-3 years of bottle age, and last for 20-25 years. Bravo!
-
Wine Spectator
This is seriously dark, with bittersweet chocolate, braised beef, fig, tar and ground espresso notes leading the charge, while dark plum and currant fruit wait in the background. Cuts a broad swath on the muscular finish. Very backward, with a ways to go, this has harnessed more grip than most in this vintage. Best from 2010 through 2030. 1,515 cases made.
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.