Winemaker Notes
Sourced from some of the estate’s oldest vines planted on red clay soils covered with a layer of galets in La Crau, Cabrières, and Le Grand Pierre, Prestige is a blend of Grenache, Syrah, Mourvedre, Cinsault, Counoise, Vaccarèse, Muscardin, and Terret Noir.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A delicious. textured and fruit-driven red that does not lack intensity or structure. The nose shows notes of dark berries, blackberries, roasted meat, dried thyme and peppercorns. Medium- to full-bodied with a fresh core of berries. Textured and full of energy, with a spicy lift and a vivid finish with excellent length. Try after 2026.
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Wine Spectator
A dark, dense version, with black raspberry puree flanked by toasted anise, red tea and singed alder. Fine-grained tannins keep pace throughout, giving shape and focus to the ripe profile, with impressive fruit purity. Floral perfume and a sweet, warm earth note join a hint of menthol, lending this nice lift. A blockbuster, showing great concentration and length. Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Counoise and Vaccarèse. Best from 2026 through 2036.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Aromas of chocolate, spices, licorice, dark wild berries, bay leaf and garrigue preface the 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Prestige from Roger Sabon, a medium to full-bodied, dense and concentrated wine with a sweet attack and a layered core of fruit framed by velvety tannins. This blend of 70% Grenache Noir, 20% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre and the rest of unknown proportions of authorized varieties matured in foudres, large barrels and tanks. It is an elegantly concentrated Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
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Vinous
The 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Prestige opens with ripe black cherry, blackberry, licorice, dried herbs and a touch of garrigue. Formed by firm tannins, the full-bodied 2022 needs at least five more years in bottle to reveal its full potential. This is a very good showing.
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.