Winemaker Notes
Deep garnet red color. This expressive wine opens up to berry fruits underscored by hints of forest undergrowth, spices and balsamic notes. On the palate, it has a nice balance between complexity and roundness. The finish is long with stewed fruity notes.
It is perfect with game, spicy dishes, red meat or ripened cheese.
Professional Ratings
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Jeb Dunnuck
Another winner from this label, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape has lots of spiced black cherry and mulberry-like fruit as well as peppery garrigue, lavender, and loads of Provençal spice aromas and flavors. It's medium to full-bodied, round, and supple, with fine tannins and a great finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
After a long day of blind-tasting, it was a pleasant surprise to discover how well Louis Bernard's 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape performed. No, it's not a concentrated behemoth with decades of aging potential, but it's a charming representative of the appellation, offering up notes of brandied cherries and dried spices. Full-bodied and velvety, it's moderately concentrated, with soft tannins that don't require any additional aging.
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Wine Spectator
riendly and open in feel, offering a burst of cherry and kirsch notes backed by red licorice, floral and garrigue hints. The silky, persistent finish has a nice mineral hint too. Grenache and Syrah.
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.