Winemaker Notes
A versatile pairing for poultry, game, roasts, stews and strong cheeses.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A ripe nose of baked cherries, plums, black olives, baking spices and dried herbs. Medium body with chewy tannins and crisp acidity. It’s structured and solid while the center palate is vivid with fresh berry character. Cocoa powder and spicy chocolate in the finish. 80% grenache, 15% syrah and 5% mourvedre.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Perrin's 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape les Galets de la Berthaude is 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah. More supple and tender than the regular cuvée, it offers up attractive shadings of black raspberries and garrigue-like scents, plus hints of olive as well. It's medium to full-bodied, slightly tart but harmonious, with soft tannins on the finish.
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Vinous
Pale ruby-colored. The 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Galets de la Berthaude is a blend of 85% Grenache and 15% Syrah. Swirling the glass reveals ripe red and black fruits, cloves and crushed rock aromas. Unlike the 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, it didn't see any new oak and was aged entirely in concrete vats, resulting in a wine with greater purity. The tannins are similarly unrefined though and I recommend keeping this one aside for a couple of years. Full-bodied and layered, it ends on a savory note.
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.