Winemaker Notes
A delicate nose, mingling aromas of tobacco, violets, cedar and milk chocolate. The mouth is velvety with aromas of licorice and cherry, with a persistent chocolatey finish.
This wine still in its youth is best with red meat like a beautiful rib of beef but also, for instance, an apricot tagine of lamb, duck breast with cherries, then after about ten years a hare “à la royale”.
Blend: 60% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre, 10% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A seriously exotic nose of pomegranate, coconut and black leaf tea. Very concentrated and polished on the expansive palate, with as much vitality as richness, this currently impresses most at the super-long, silky finish. Still very young with excellent aging potential.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Barberini is more dense and modern in style, with beautiful cassis and blackberry fruits as well as peppery herbs, white flowers, and spice. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated on the palate, with a great texture, it’s another powerful yet fresh, balanced wine from this impeccably run estate. Give it a few years. Despite it’s more modern style, it stays firmly planted in the Southern Rhône.
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Wine Spectator
Seductive, with a mix of boysenberry, raspberry and fig preserve flavors laced with hints of anise, red tea and fruitcake. There's a nice underlying juiciness and a flash of tar through the finish. Rock solid. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Best from 2024.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Sourced solely from the galets roulés and clay of the la Solitude lieu-dit, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Barberini is a blend of 50% Grenache, 30% Syrah and 20% Mourvèdre. Aged in a mix of new oak and tank, it offers up scents of cedar, vanilla, black cherries and red raspberries on the nose but also complex hints of truffle and garrigue. In the mouth, it's full-bodied and a bit marked by dry oak tannins on the palate, with hints of hickory smoke and silk on the finish. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes. Best after 2023
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.