Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Tipping the scales at 14.5-15% alcohol, the old vine, full-bodied 2001 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Prestige is a wine of impressive intensity and thickness. Aromas reminiscent of liqueur of roasted herbs intermixed with meaty, game-like smells, black cherries, ground pepper, beef blood, and garrigue are followed by a wine of noteworthy stature, complexity, and mouthfilling generosity. Serious tannin is largely obscured by the wealth of fruit and extract. Give it 2-3 years of cellaring, and drink it over the following 12-15 years.
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Wine Spectator
Mature spice, black tea and sandalwood notes lead the way, but this has deceptive richness despite its softening feel, with layered flavors of roasted fig, plum confiture and cherry compote gliding along. The structure has melded into the core and the finish is supple. At its peak now.—2001 Châteauneuf-du-Pape non-blind retrospective (November 2011). Drink now through 2016.
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.