Domaine de Marcoux Chateauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes (1.5 Liter Magnum) 2019

Professional Ratings

• 97 Jeb Dunnuck

  Also a true gem of a wine, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes includes all three terroirs of Charbonnière, Esqueirons and Galimardes and is all Grenache. It’s a ripe, opulent, incredibly sexy wine that’s just about overflowing with notes of raspberries, blueberries, Provençal herbs, violets, and flowers. It’s a big, exuberant Grenache offering sweet tannins, a broad, mouth-filling texture, no hard edges, and a great finish. Give it a few years and enjoy over the following two decades.

• 97 Wine Spectator

  This is marked by a gorgeously pure core of kirsch and raspberry reduction flavors, which are laced with rooibos tea, singed balsam wood, dried anise, garrigue and warm stone notes. Extremely long, with a singular focal point to the finish as everything is pulled together by finely beaded acidity. A terrific wine. Best from 2025 through 2040.

• 97 Wine Enthusiast

  Old vines of Grenache, averaging 55 to 110 years of age, distinguish this ripe yet nuanced wine. Matured 18 months in neutral oak, it offers black-plum and preserved-raspberry flavors that are richly concentrated but pure. Speckled with hints of licorice and smoke, it’s a feathery, sumptuous sip with a long, lifted finish. Editors’ Choice

• 97 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate

  Marcoux's 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes is full-bodied, dense and tannic. Hints of crushed stone and dried garrigue appear on the nose, alongside blackberries and black cherries. It's basically pure foudre-aged Grenache from two lieux-dits—Charbonnières and les Esquierons—although the old vines undoubtedly include the odd interplanted variety. This terrific wine finishes long and silky, with layers of unfolding fruit and spice, including a dash of salted licorice. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes. Best after 2025

• 96 Decanter

  Touch of licorice behind the damson and plum fruit. This has searing intensity, very high acidity with fine tannins and a good internal framework. The alcohol is high, but the other elements are even more prominent. Very long. 3,900 bottles made. 120-year-old vines planted on north-facing clay and sand lieux-dits of Charbonnières and Esquières. Fermented in concrete, aged in foudre.

• 93 James Suckling

  Fascinating nose of black fruit, pomegranate, licorice and dried lemon zest. Very rich, deep and concentrated with a striking combination of sweetness and freshness through the long, energetic finish. Slight warmth from alcohol (16%) at the end. From organically grown grapes.

• 91 Wine & Spirits

  Sophie Armenier pulls this wine from her family’s oldest vines, some planted more than 100 years ago. Entirely grenache fermented in tank, then aged in 350-liter barrels for 18 months, it’s a staid red in a traditional mode, with warm wood scents paneling the dark cherry fruit, and a whiff of cigar smoke. Quiet notes of roses and spice add lift and light to all the darkness, suggesting the levity that will come with time.