Winemaker Notes
The holdings are spread across 12 parcels in varying soils including sand, clay-limestone, and galets roulés. There is a lot of sand in Pignan, Boislauzon has more pebbles, while Brusquières and Palestor have a lot of clay.
The grapes are 0% destemmed, vinified in concrete, and aged in concrete tank and barrique for 12 months before bottling.
Blend: 70% Grenache, 30% Mourvèdre
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Reveals raspberry and red cherry flavors underscored by licorice, charred herbs, earth and smoke. Builds in mineral intensity, with graphite and singed apple wood cruising through the finish, with snappy acidity holding sway. Well-structured and drinking beautifully now. Grenache and Mourvèdre.
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Decanter
Inviting nose of succulent dark fruits, stewed damsons, garrigues and meaty notes. Dense and full-bodied, fleshy with a spicy and savoury finish.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape is fabulous stuff, offering a round, full-bodied, opulent style as well as classic notes of black raspberries, cherries, new saddle leather, and Provençal garrigue. It's already impossible to resist yet will keep for 15 years in cold cellars. The cuvée is 70% Grenache and 30% Mourvèdre, brought up all in concrete tank.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
A tank-aged blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Mourvèdre, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape shows a gentle garrigue influence and a hint of mint on the nose, alongside super-ripe black cherries and blackberries. It's full-bodied and rich but silky, then turns tougher and more tannic on the finish. Give it a couple of years to smooth out. Rating: 92+
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.