Winemaker Notes
This classic Châteauneuf opens with a voluptuous aroma of black olive and licorice. On the palate, you'll find a firm backbone of tannin, juicy, brambly fruit, and charming floral notes. Blend: 65% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, 15% Syrah, 5% Cinsault, Clairette, etc.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Immediately a sense of darker fruit in this vintage. The nose has closed up a little since tasting in barrel. It has some reserved, sanguine notes and an essence-like, raspberry core. Some stones and chalk here, too. Very long and focused palate. The grenache is singing here. Dense but soft and supple tannins, the product of thick, healthy skins. Best from 2025.
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Jeb Dunnuck
As always, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape sees a small amount of stems, and the blend is 60% Grenache, 15% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre, and the rest an assortment of varieties. Red currants, lavender, salty minerality, nori, and plenty of peppery garrigue notes emerge from the glass. It's medium to full-bodied, has the sunny, sexy style of the vintage, yet also builds nicely on the palate, with ripe yet present tannins. It's going to require 4-5 years of bottle age to hit price time, but it will keep for two decades.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Slated to be bottled less than a week after my visit, the final blend of the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau is fresh, vibrant and zesty, with notes of roses, tea, raspberries and blood oranges. Full-bodied yet diaphanous and silky, it doesn't appear to have the richness of either the 2016 or 2018. Rating: 92-94
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Wine Spectator
Steeped red currant, plum and raspberry fruit splays out, while light lavender, black tea and singed juniper accents fill in. A juniper thread laces up the finish, lending definition while the fruit pumps through. Best from 2022 through 2040.
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.