Winemaker Notes
Les Hauts des Coteaux is a wine issued from 60 years old vines located in their best hillsides with low yields (less than 30hl per hectare) to obtain maximum concentration. As the crop has been sorted out and picked at high maturity, the wine has a complex structure. Aged in barrels, it enhances aromas of vanilla, tasted notes and licorice. The tannins are very smooth and silky and the long finish is spicy and elegant.
It will match perfectly all kind of meat with sauce such as beef bourguignon, filets of venison with cranberry sauce, or refined cheeses.
Blend: 90% Grenache, 5% Mourvedre, 5% Syrah
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another special cuvée, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape les Hauts des Coteaux is a blend of 90% Grenache and 5% each Mourvèdre and Syrah. Maturation takes place in a mix of new oak barriques (20%), older wood (40%) and concrete tanks (40%). Scents of purple raspberries lead the way, and it's expressive but less floral than the single-domaine wines. On the palate, the wine is full-bodied and rich, velvety and plush, long and concentrated.
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.