Winemaker Notes
Serve as an aperitif or with Foi Gras, Lobster or roasted chicken.Blend: 80% Clairette, 20% Roussanne
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Hay, dried flowers, crushed rocks, leafy tones and jasmine introduce the medium- to full-bodied 2016 Châteauneuf- du-Pape Blanc, a gorgeous white that also bundles flinty subtleties. Medium- to full-bodied, bright and refreshing, the 2016 is as refined as aged Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc can get.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc boasts a lovely nose of toasted grain and pineapple. The wine is medium to full-bodied, with a rich texture that's channeled into a long, lime-sherbet finish. It's a blend of Roussanne and Clairette that I'd suggest consuming over the next couple of years.
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Wine Spectator
Ripe and forward, with enticing pear, yellow apple and green fig flavors, caressed by a light salted butter note. The round, flattering finish has a verbena thread. Drink now through 2019.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The classic white from Ferrando is mostly Clairette, with 20% Roussanne, brought up all in demi-muids. The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc offers clean, bright, crisp aromas and flavors (salted citrus, apple blossom, and honeysuckle), medium-bodied richness and a classic, balanced style that’s going to evolve nicely for at least a decade.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.
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.