Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Mostly Grenache yet with 15% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre, with 10% Cinsault, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape boasts a vivid purple hue as well as a complex bouquet of red, blue, and black fruits as well as notes of flowers, spice, and peppery garrigue. It actually reminds me of the Cuvée Mon Aïeul with its ripe yet elegant profile.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A blend sourced from numerous sites across the appellation, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape is full-bodied and plush, loaded with notes of asphalt, blackberries and black olives. Plush and easy to drink, this blend of 70% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 10% Mourvèdre and 5% Cinsault may be consumed young or aged up to a decade.
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Wine Enthusiast
Soft, supple layers of strawberry and raspberry preserves are laced with a salty, earthen streak of minerality in this bright, fresh-fruited Châteauneuf-du-Pape. It's an immediately welcoming wine framed by fine, pillowy tannins and a lingering crush of pink peppercorn.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy and direct, with bright cassis and cherry compote notes and red licorice and sweet tobacco flavors. Offers a flash of garrigue that keeps it honest through the finish, with good energy adding length. Grenache, Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2032.
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.