Winemaker Notes
It is a tribute to our ancestors the Barberini Family, produced when the vintage allows it from a special selection from the domaine, well known for its concentration and its opulence. The modern winemaking style, with optimization of the extraction but without excess, gives a powerful wine with silky tannins.
Blend: 50% Grenache Noir, 35% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A rich and deeply structured Chateauneuf-du-Pape that’s expansive on the full-bodied palate. Enveloping mulberry and licorice aromas. Deep and suave tannins anchor this, and there’s freshness that keeps this animating through the very long, complete finish. A cuvee of two-thirds grenache plus syrah and mourvedre matured primarily in oak barrels, the minority in concrete tanks.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The Barberini cuvée is always a slightly more modern styled wine, and the 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Barberini is no exception, yet it still possesses an incredibly Provençal, complex, elegant style that has so much to love. Red and black fruits, sappy spring flowers, spice, and garrigue notes all shine on the nose, and despite being brought up in some new barrels, its oak is flawlessly integrated. With medium to full-bodied richness, a pure, layered mouthfeel, polished tannins, and a great finish, drink this brilliant wine over the coming 10-15 years. The blend of the 2022 is 50% Grenache, 35% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre raised in 60% new barrels.
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Wine Spectator
A burly, broad-shouldered red, with a lot of stuffing. Modern in style, offering a generous lacquer of oak atop black plum and bitter cherry, all held together by muscular, black tea tannins. Still tightly wound, this will loosen up and integrate with a few years' time. Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah. Best from 2026 through 2038. 600 cases made, 100 cases imported.
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Vinous
Vinified from certified organic grapes, the 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc Barberini is delightful. Ripe peach, apricot, pastry, discrete cedar and dried blossom are all there. Round and generous, the soft-textured 2022 ends with excellent persistence and will provide ample pleasure over the next three years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Spicier and darker than the entry-level wine, the 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Barberini, a blend of 50% Grenache Noir, 35% Syrah and 15% Mourvèdre from vines planted on galets roulés, exhales a slightly oaky bouquet of licorice, clove and dark wild berries. Medium to full-bodied, powerful and rich, it's enrobing and generous with structured tannins that segue into an assertive tannic frame, making it a rather muscular Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
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.