Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This has impressive fruit purity and concentration and is very much the style of the domaine. A wealth of ripe melon, apple and pear fruit with a smooth, mineral and white almond finish.
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Wine Spectator
Fresh and lively, with lots of green almond, pear and white peach flavors liberally laced with verbena and acacia notes. A bright mineral streak and a twinge of star fruit add length and cut to the finish
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Thirty percent of the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc, a blend of 40% Grenache Blanc, 40% Roussanne and 20% Clairette, was barrel-fermented and aged in oak, including a healthy proportion of new wood. That said, the wine remains fresh and lively. Yes, it shows some honeyed notes and rich texture, but it's focused by hints of lime and orange sherbet and some gingery spice on the long finish. It should drink well for a few more years.
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Jeb Dunnuck
This estate’s white is always terrific, yet for whatever reason, it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc (40% each of Roussanne and Grenache Blanc, with the balance Clairette) offers vibrant notes of white peach, white flowers, citrus rind and ample crushed rocks. It’s medium-bodied, fresh, and beautifully balanced, and will evolve for 10-15 years if you’re so inclined. I can promise you bottles wouldn’t last that long at my house.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
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.