Winemaker Notes
Les Olivets represents a classically provençale style of Châteauneuf, redolent with dried herbs and bright red fruit while Prestige is dense, structured and darkly fruited. Between these two styles is Didier’s Reserve, a blend of Grenache with Syrah, Mourvèdre, Syrah and Cinsault from vines between 60 and 75 years old. While Olivets comes almost entirely from gravelly, red clay soils, the Reserve also includes fruit from limestone and sandy terroirs. It is aged in foudres and 600L French oak demi-muids.
Professional Ratings
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The floral and garrigue nuances in the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve are off-the-charts gorgeous, backed by concentrated black cherries and hints of dark chocolate. Full-bodied and intense, concentrated yet elegant, this is a terrific effort that should drink well for a decade. Soft, silky tannins wash over the tongue on the long-lasting finish, lending a certain gravitas to the overall experience and reinforcing that impression of longevity.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Moving to the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Réserve, this cuvée is a blend of 80% Grenache as well but has 10% Syrah and 10% Mourvèdre. Slightly deeper ruby/purple, it has a more serious bouquet of ripe red and black fruits, ground pepper, gamy meats, and plenty of Provençal garrigue. Also medium to full-bodied, it has slightly more depth and richness, building yet soft tannins, solid mid-palate depth, and a great finish. It’s drinking well already, but certainly will evolve nicely for 10-12 years, if not longer.
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Wine Spectator
Juicy and youthfully compact, with a ball of cassis, raspberry paste and melted red licorice that has yet to unwind fully, backed by sweet toast and fruitcake notes on the finish. Features a solid spine throughout. Needs a little patience. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.
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.