Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Gorgeous black raspberries, strawberry, spring flowers, incense, and assorted Provençal spice notes all emerge from the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape, a medium to full-bodied, incredibly pure, utterly seamless 2019 that excels on all accounts. Madame Ferando continues to knock it out of the park in just about every vintage, and this is well worth seeking out. The base cuvée is 85% Grenache and 5% each of Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault, aged all in concrete tanks.
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Wine Spectator
Melted licorice, plum sauce, cherry purée and black tea notes all meld into a silky, suave and seamlessly-textured wine that leaves a subtle echo of lavender at the very end. Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Drink now.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The tank-aged 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape is 85% Grenache, with the balance equally divided among Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Scents of ripe cherries and cola spice emerge on the nose, while the palate is full-bodied, concentrated and richly textured, with a long finish marked by softly dusty tannins. Tasted twice (once blind), with the wine at the estate seeming darker and more tannic—and perhaps a bit longer lived—than the red-fruited, silky perception when tasted blind, but both given identical ratings.
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.