Wines

95 Points! I think the finest vintage for the classic cuvee ever, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape is a sensational blend of 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 12% Syrah and the balance other permitted varieties. Aged mostly in tank, it offers a massive array of smoked herbs, lavender, black raspberries, toasted nuts, truffle and garrigue. Full-bodied, ripe, decadent and concentrated, it has slightly less structure than the '09, but has more raw material. This flat-out awesome Chateauneuf will have 20 years of longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck, robertparker.com, 2015

94 Points! This traditional style Chateauneuf has a complex nose of leather, dry earth, candied orange peel and licorice. More red-berry fruit on the expansive yet delicate palate, where there’s a wonderful interplay of super-fine tannins and restrained richness through the very long, silky finish. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

93 Points! Moving to the red, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape is brilliant stuff, offering lots of kirsch, peppery garrigue, and sandalwood aromas and flavors. Medium-bodied, pure, seamless, and just classic 2020 with its soft, charming style, it’s delicious today and will be delicious in a decade as well. The blend is 65% Grenache, 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, and the rest Cinsault, brought up 90% in concrete and 10% in old barrels...this is an estate I consistently purchase for my personal cellar. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! A seductive, textural and well-crafted blend of grenache, syrah and mourvedre. It exhibits aromas of currants, dried herbs, roasted meat, mushrooms and orange peel. Medium- to full-bodied with fine-grained tannins. So velvety and refined on the palate. Poised and complete with a bright, succulent and long finish. - JamesSuckling.com

94 Points! Decidedly savory, with tugs of tar, dried sausage and warm soil surrounding plum, melted licorice and anise. Lifted and smooth, with gentle tannins paving the silky finish. Shows depth without heaviness, while sandalwood smoke drifts from beginning to end. Grenache, Mourvedre and Syrah. - Wine Spectator

98 Points! The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Boisrenard is a Grenache-dominated field blend (80%) that also includes 15 other varieties. Brought up all in foudre, it boasts a dense purple hue to go with a sensational, full-bodied, multi-layered array of red and black currants, toasted spice, peppery garrigue, and new leather-like aromas and flavors. Slightly tighter and more backward than the classic cuvée, this warrants 4-6 years of bottle age and will be incredibly long-lived. Is this even better than the 2001 and 2016? - Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 opens in the glass with ripe raspberry, black cherry, cassis and cedar. Scheduled to age in large foudres for two years, ripe tannins offer the wine a good structure and framework. Finishing on a savory note, the 2022 looks quite promising at this early stage. - Nicolas Greinacher, Vinous

The classic red of the domaine accounts for approximately 85% of the annual production of the estate.  It is composed of 65% Grenache Noir, 15% Syrah, 15% Mourvèdre and a balance of other traditional varieties. The grapes are not destemmed, the cuvaison lasts for three weeks and the élevage encompasses an additional 18 months in traditional foudre wood vats before the wine is bottled unfiltered. The fruit is perfectly in balance with the textural elements, showing typical dark fruit notes with discernible energy and liveliness. Its slighty sauvage character and firm structural backbone is leavened by its exceptional breed.

92 Points! Based on 75% Grenache and the rest a mix of varieties, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape was vinified with 40% stems and brought up in foudre and cuve as well as a small percentage in demi-muids. Ripe, round, and sexy on the palate, with medium body, it offers ripe kirsch and black cherries intermixed with spice and peppery garrigue nuances. It's balanced with soft tannins and shows the forward style of the vintage. It will drink beautifully over the coming 10-12 years.  - Jeb Dunnuck

96 Points! A deep, quite herbal expression, with liquorice and crushed blueberries to the cassis fruit. Full-bodied, powerfully fruited, dense and deep. Really mouthcoating, intense fruit. The tannins are ripe, fine and plentiful, all saturated in blackberry juice on a long finish. Certainly one of the more successful Châteauneufs this year. Will age well. A Mourvèdre-led expression of Beaucastel - it contains more than usual, at least 35% and probably more. Grenache and Cinsault fermented in cement, Syrah and Mourvèdre fermented in foudre. - Decanter Magazine

94 Points! Toasty, meaty and inviting, this fresh red shows an understated, savory side, with notes of singed spices, mesquite, wet earth and fresh tobacco leaf flanking a silky range of plum and warm cherry compote flavors. Channels its terroir, with a round feel held in check by refined tannins. The finish is lined with cool minerality and heavy iron. Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Counoise, Vaccarèse, Terret Blanc, Muscardin, Clairette, Picpoul de Pinet, Bourboulenc, Picardan and Roussanne. - Wine Spectator

95 Points! The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape is some serious Provençal goodness, with just about overflowing aromas and flavors of sweet raspberries, blackberries, peppery garrigue, and Provençal spices. It has the sunny, expressive, complex style of the vintage, medium to full-bodied richness, ripe tannins, and a great finish. As with most 2022s, it has plenty of upfront charm yet solid underlying tannins as well. It reminds me slightly of the 2009 and will have two decades of longevity. - Jeb Dunnuck

95 Points! The 2017 Chimère reminds me a little of the 2011 with its more elegant yet still powerful style. Beautiful notes of black cherries, blueberries, cured meats, pepper, tree bark, and new leather all emerge from the glass, followed by a rich, medium to full-bodied, tight, backward and unevolved Mourvèdre that needs forgotten for 4-5 years. As always, this cuvée is primarily Mourvèdre (it’s normally blended with Grenache and other varieties, even some white varieties) and there are a scant 100 cases made. - Jeb Dunnuck

Formerly known as Vignobles Mayard...

94 Points! From the oldest vines of the estate on the La Crau plateau, the 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Terres De La Crau checks in as 85% Grenache, 10% Syrah, and 5% Cinsault. Its medium ruby hue is followed by a spicy, savory, complex perfume of black cherries, blackberries, roasted garrigue, and acacia flowers. I love its complexity, and this beauty hits the palate with a broad, medium to full-bodied, layered, seamless mouthfeel carrying ripe tannins and a great finish. There’s a classic, almost old school-like character here, but it's beautifully balanced, elegant, and pure as well. I love it. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! The 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape is pretty and elegant, with a perfumed, red-fruited, spicy, mineral-laced style. It’s one of the more elegant wines I've tasted from Thierry and is medium to full-bodied and has a beautiful sense of elegance, ample tannins, and outstanding length. While it's not massively concentrated, it has a certain tension and vibrancy that makes me think it will age beautifully. I followed this bottle for multiple days, and it gained depth and richness with time in the glass, so don't be afraid to give it some air if drinking any time soon. The blend is 75% Grenache, 10% Syrah, 9% Mourvèdre, and the rest a mix of permitted varieties from a mix of terroirs; it was partially destemmed and aged 20 months in a mix of foudre, demi-muids, and concrete tanks. - Jeb Dunnuck

97 Points! The old vine cuvée that incorporates more stems with the goal of longer aging potential, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Cuvée Du Papet is deep ruby-hued and offers ripe red and black berry fruits, black olive, pepper, and crushed stone-like minerality. Based on 80% Grenache with 10% each Syrah and Mourvèdre from the La Crau, Bois Dauphin, and Montalivet lieux-dits, it was partially destemmed and aged in a mix of large foudres, demi-muids, and clay jars. Medium to full-bodied on the palate, it shows the vintage's more polished style with ripe underlying tannins and outstanding length. It's very much in the forward, charming style of the vintage yet still has plenty of structure. With roughly 1,000 cases produced, give it 3-4 years of cellaring and enjoy over the following two decades. It's certainly up there with the crème de la crème of the vintage. - Jeb Dunnuck

100 Points! Starting off a trio of truly magical wines, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Combe Des Fous checks in as 70% Grenache, 20% Syrah, and the rest Vaccarèse and Cinsault raised in tank and demi-muids. Sensationally pure cassis and blackberry fruits as well as complex notes of lavender, Provençal garrigue, ground pepper, and flowers all define this full-bodied 2019, which displays the vintage’s ripe, perfumed style while bringing more finesse, elegant, and purity than just about every other wine out there. It’s the finest vintage of this cuvée I’ve tasted and has another 15-20 years of prime drinking ahead of it. - Jeb Dunnuck

95+ Points! Still in tank at the time of tasting, Charvin’s 2023 Chateauneuf du Pape shows a less flamboyant profile than last year, opening with aromas of menthol, spices, cassis and mulberries. Medium- to full-bodied, dense and layered, it reveals a lively, tensile core of fruit framed by velvety tannins, concluding with a finish marked by real freshness. Matured for 21 months, this blend of 82% Grenache Noir, 5% Syrah, 5% Mourvèdre, 4% Vaccarèse and the balance Counoise is another impressive success from Laurent Charvin, emphasizing precision and vibrancy over sheer opulence. - Yohan Castaing, robertparker.com

94 Points! Fermented with lots of stems and aged entirely in concrete tanks, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape brings textbook aromatics of ripe red and black fruits, sappy garrigue, leather, and damp flowers, as well as black pepper. It has a deep ruby/plum hue and offers medium body, a pure, focused, elegant mouthfeel, ripe yet certainly building tannins, and a great finish. This is a textbook Châteauneuf with complexity, nuances, richness, and elegance. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! More Mourvèdre-dominated, the 2009 Châteauneuf Du Pape L'Envol is slightly less aromatic yet still brings solid complexity in its gamey, darker fruits, iron, smoked meats, spice, and peppery, garrigue-like nuances. It's beautifully textured, medium to full-bodied, has ripe, polished tannins, and just about flawless balance. It's another brilliant wine from this estate that offers a terrific drinking experience today yet still has another decade of longevity. Drink: 2025-2034. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! A more long-term effort is the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape L’Envol (70% Mourvedre and 30% Grenache, aged in two- to three-year-old small barriques). A complex nose of sauteed mushrooms intermixed with meat juices, blueberry, mulberry and tree bark are all present in a completely different interpretation of Chateauneuf du Pape. The color is a healthy deep bluish purple, and the wine medium to full-bodied, tannic and quite young and backward. This will need a few years of bottle age and evolve over the next 15+ years. - Robert Parker, robertparker.com

92 Points! A silky, fruit-driven style, with a beam of raspberry and kirsch flavors, framed by subtle iron, sandalwood and shiso leaf hints on the edges. Stylish without sacrificing length or cut. - Wine Spectator

91 Points! The most accessible of the three is the 2013 Chateauneuf du Pape Mourre des Perdrix (64% Grenache, 18% Syrah and 18% Mourvèdre), which offers fresh, elegant notes of raspberries, black cherries, lots of sappy herbs and peppery spice in a medium-bodied, elegant and seamless style. - Jeb Dunnuck, robertparker.com

93 Points! Ripe stone fruits, chamomile, toast, and a beautiful sense of crushed stone-like minerality all emerge from the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc, a vibrant, medium-bodied white from this estate that has integrated acidity, terrific balance, and outstanding length. It has a kiss of almost Burgundian-like reduction right on opening, and this classy white is going to drink nicely for a solid decade, if not longer. Give it a year if you can. The blend is 30% Grenache Blanc, 30% Clairette, 25% Roussanne, and 15% Bourboulenc, and it was brought up in a combination of stainless steel, concrete, and old and new barrels. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! A more modern-styled cuvée from 100% galets roulés terroir, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Barberini is based on 60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre. It was partially destemmed, vinified in concrete, and aged 15 months in 60% new French oak, 20% foudre, and 20% concrete. It brings more intensity in its notes of bright blackberries, Provençal garrigue, spicy wood, and pepper. This beautifully balanced, medium to full-bodied, elegant 2023 has ripe, polished tannins, no hard edges, and a gorgeous finish. With 416 cases produced, it will benefit from just a few years of bottle age and keep for 10-15 years in cold cellars. - Jeb Dunnuck

93 Points! A juicy, open version, with impressive purity and style. Fine-grained tannins keep a firm grip on the notes of wild raspberry, strappy cherry and apple wood smoke, while focused mineral density stretches from beginning to end. Grenache, Mourvèdre and Syrah. - Wine Spectator

99 Points! Forget the world and fly into this incredibly concentrated and subtle recreation of a Chateauneuf from two centuries ago. A cornucopia of gingerbread, dried cherries, bitter chocolate and wild herbs on the nose. The quality of the tannins is as unique as the aromas. Endless layers of flavor in the super-refined finish. A cuvee of 23% grenache, 22% syrah, 20% counoise, 20% mourvedre, 7% cinsault, 3% clairette, 2% clairette rose and 1% each of bourbelenc, picpoul and roussanne. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drink or hold. - JamesSuckling.com

95 Points! Lastly, the 2022 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vin De La Solitude checks in as 25% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Counoise, 7% Cinsault, 2% Clairette Rose, and the rest a mix of varieties. It has a more medium-bodied, elegant, silky profile as well as remarkable complexity in its savory red fruits, pressed flowers, savory garrigue, and spicy nuances. I love its overall balance, and it has fine yet building tannins and a great finish. As always, this cuvée is more about complexity and elegance than power. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! Always one of the most singular wines in a vintage, the 2023 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vin De La Solitude comes from the la Solitude lieu-dit on 50% galets roulés and 50% sandy safre soils. Based on 25% Grenache, 22% Syrah, 20% each Mourvèdre and Counoise, 7% Cinsault, 2% Clairette Rose, and 4% other permitted varieties, it was vinified with whole clusters in truncated tanks and aged 15 months entirely in neutral barrels. It offers meaty black cherries, black olives, roasted garrigue, and Provençal spice, reminding me of a street market in the south of France with its meaty, complex, incredibly Provençal style. Medium to full-bodied, it has building tannins and outstanding length. With 233 cases produced, give it a year or two and drink over the following 10-12 years. - Jeb Dunnuck

94 Points! A supple and perfumy version, with an expressive mix of red plum, rooibos tea and sandalwood smoke. Salty, sanguine tones move in, and everything is grounded by wet paving stone and graphite. The tannins are glossy, with just a hint of graininess on the bitter-edged finish. Finessed and delicious. Counoise, Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre, Cinsaut, Clairette, Bourboulenc, Roussanne and Roussanne. - Wine Spectator