Winemaker Notes
A nose of garrigue bouquet, cistus flower, and blackcurrant buds. The wine has a fresh and balanced mouth, with aromas of cocoa and cherry, with a long finish of licorice.
Blend: 60% Grenache Noir, 20% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre, 5% Counoise, and 5% Cinsault, Terret Noir, Muscardin and Vaccarèse
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Pour yourself a glass of this and spend an hour experiencing how it opens up in stages. At first there’s an incredibly zesty and dangerously vibrant nose, but with great savory complexity. Then notes of dried cherries, candied oranges and touches of bitter chocolate emerge. And when you think it’s all done, a spicy and balsamic character unfurls. Incredible energy and purity on the very focused medium- to full-bodied palate, where the huge tannins feel astonishingly delicate. An almost endless mineral finish. A cuvee based on counoise, grenache, syrah and mourvedre with 10% white grapes, most of which are clairette and all of which are biodynamically grown. 100% whole cluster, macerated for 90 days, then aged for three years in old oak barrels.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The intriguing 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Vin de la Solitude features a large proportion of Counoise, plus Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre and up to 20% white grapes. It's all whole cluster and ages entirely in barrel, but the results speak for themselves. Rose petals, dried spices and black cherries all join together on the complex nose, while the medium to full-bodied palate adds hints of dark chocolate and wild herbs. It's silky, long and elegant, a fascinating expression of Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
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Wine Spectator
Supple in feel, with a core of cherry and plum dusted in earth and graphite. Dried anise and herbal notes lift on the palate, which builds in intensity with medium fine–grained tannins. Ends with a sanguine note on the firm finish, which stretches out nicely. Counoise, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Roussanne and Roussanne.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vin De La Solitude was first produced in 2020, and it's always an interesting blend of just about all of the permitted varieties. Aged in old oak, it has a healthy ruby/plum hue to go with exotic notes of black cherries, currants, peppery herbs, iron, leather, and savory, baking spices. These all carry over to the palate, where the wine is medium-bodied, has a layered, supple, savory mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and outstanding length.
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.