Winemaker Notes
The bright ruby of the color introduces a nose of smoke, fur, meat juice, undergrowth. Mouth is built around mature tannins extended by the ripe black cherry.
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Lush and alluring, with warm melted licorice, plum reduction and blackberry preserve notes rolling through slowly but surely, while sweet tobacco, apple wood and tar accents fill in on the finish. Grenache, Syrah and Cinsault.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape les Olivets is atypically rich and dense for this cuvée. Concentrated blackberry and chocolate notes lead the way, while the full-bodied palate is velvety and the finish long, but shows a touch of warmth.
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Jeb Dunnuck
The entry level 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Olivets from this estate checks in as 80% Grenache and 10% each of Syrah and Cinsault. It's a rich, mouth-filling, fleshy, wonderfully textured, medium to full-bodied effort offering lots of meaty black fruits, peppery garrigue, and meaty nuances, ripe, soft tannins, and a great finish. It's well worth seeking out and ideal for drinking any time over the coming decade or so.
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.