Winemaker Notes
The tête de cuvée of the domaine, made from the oldest vines in two parcels, les Serres and le Cristia. Les Serres is very warm and has the famous galets and gravel soil; Cristia has a sandy soil.
Blend: 60% Grenache, 35% Mourvèdre, and 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Collection Charles Giraud includes a big chunk of Mourvèdre and is 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre that was partially destemmed and brought up in demi-muids. If offers a deep ruby/plum color as well as a rich, savory, complex bouquet of black raspberries, cassis, toasted spice, cured meats, and graphite. The Mourvèdre really shows in this beauty, and it's full-bodied, concentrated, and structured, yet never loses its seamless, flawlessly balanced profile. It's going to need 4-5 years of bottle age but will have 20-25 years of ultimate longevity. It's another thrilling wine from this estate.
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Wine Spectator
This is large in scale, showing off a range of cassis, red tea, crushed plum, warmed cherry compote, Turkish coffee, melted red licorice and warm earth flavors, all seamlessly layered and carried through a lush, yet focused finish. The warm earth note provides the ground wire in the end as the fruit takes an encore. Gorgeous. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Best from 2024.
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Decanter
Lovely vibrant nose, the Mourvèdre really makes itself known. Very full-bodied and flowing on the palate, but it's backed up by amazing vibrancy of fruit and a deep-set vein of salinity that accentuates the freshness further. Finishes long and vibrant, like a peacock's tail. Vines are 80 years old, grown mostly on galets roulés over blue clay. The Grenache is not destemmed. Fermented in concrete tanks, then aged for 18 months in demi-muids.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
An assemblage of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre, both aged in demi-muids, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Collection Charles Giraud features a hint of brown sugar on the nose, then waves of blueberries, black cherries and plums, plus some more savory suggestions of black olives. Full-bodied and showing tremendous richness and depth, it's sturdier and denser than the Auguste Favier, with a long, dark, earthy finish and plenty of tannin. Give it some serious time in the cellar. Tasted twice (once blind), with consistent notes.
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.