Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Even better than I remember it prior to bottling, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes—90% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre—boasts bold, concentrated aromas of black cherries, dark chocolate and red raspberries. It's full-bodied, rich and expansive, framed by silky tannins that ease into a long, elegant finish. Despite its size, there's a fine sense of proportion to this wine and a notable absence of alcohol-derived heat.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Vieilles Vignes comes all from the famed La Crau lieu-dit and is 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvèdre that was brought up in a mix of demi-muids, tronconique tanks, and stainless steel. Awesome black cherry and currant fruits as well as licorice, roasted herbs, and peppery, meaty notes define this gorgeous 2020, and it's full-bodied, with wonderful purity of fruit, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It's wonderfully done and should rank with the crème de la crème of the vintage.
Barrel Sample: 94-96 -
James Suckling
This amazing Chateauneuf has a stunning combination of opulence and concentration without any of this being in any way exaggerated. The richest red fruits you could imagine. Just a hint of warmth from alcohol at the finish, but there’s an explosion of herbal aromas there, too. A cuvee of 90% grenache and 10% mourvedre.
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Wine Spectator
A stylish, very enticing version, with an expressive mix of blackberry coulis and plum paste flavors. Violet and lavender notes bring lift, while the palate is mouthfilling and rich, with grilled apple wood smoldering in the backdrop. This has the structure to carry the ripeness, shored up firmly by graphite-edged tannins.
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.