Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2010 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Gallimardes is brilliant, with a rich, powerful, full-bodied style as well as tons of classic Southern Rhône aromas and flavors of ripe black cherries, roasted herbs, cured meats, leather, and licorice. This is another 2010 that's in the early stages of maturity with another decade of prime drinking, followed by a gradual decline.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Unfortunately, there are only about 180 cases of the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Gallimardes. This spectacular wine is one of the vintage's most prodigious efforts. It has added complexity and weight since I tasted it last year. An inky/purple color is followed by notes of licorice, truffles, black raspberries, cassis, camphor and a hint of scorched earth. This dense, full-bodied 2010 possesses fabulous concentration, a multidimensional mouthfeel and a finish that lasts nearly 50 seconds. It is an amazing tour de force from the Girauds and their consulting oenologist, Philippe Cambie.
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Wine Spectator
A glorious display of ripe, mouthcoating dark fruit featuring seemingly endless layers of steeped fig, warm boysenberry confiture, macerated plum and currant and blueberry pâte de fruit flavors, all laced with a riveting ganache note and backed by a solid, tarry spine. The long finish courses with warm stone, licorice root and Turkish coffee, but avoids being overbearing. Best from 2014 through 2030.
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.