Winemaker Notes
Pale youthful gold, clear and brilliant color. On the nose intense notes of white flowers and citrus with a lovely vanilla note. The palate has breadth, elegance and length. A noble wine, elegant and very expressive.
Pair with lobster, fish with a beurre blanc sauce, aged goat cheese.
Blend: 43% Roussanne, 33% Grenache Blanc, 15% Clairette, 6% Bourboulenc, 3% Piquepoul
Critical Acclaim
All VintagesThe top wine, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc is based on 43% Roussanne, 33% Grenache Blanc, 15% Clairette, 6% Bourboulenc, 3% Piquepoul, almost one-third of each terroir. It's a richer, bigger wine that offers loads of brioche, caramelized peach, quince, white flowers, and crushed rock-like minerality. Medium to full-bodied, beautifully textured, balanced and long, with good acidity, it's a beautiful wine that's going to age gracefully.
A solid first effort from the new ownership, the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Grand Vin Blanc is a blend of 43% Roussanne, 33% Grenache Blanc, 15% Clairette, 6% Bourboulenc and 3% Picpoul. Seventy percent of the blend aged in oak, but I'd say that component is discrete, adding just a hint of pencil shavings and a fine-grained, silky texture. It's full-bodied and succulent, delivering an attractive combination of pineapple and saline notes with understated elegance.
Since their very first vintage bottled under the Guigal name, in 1946, the Guigal family has produced a Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The terroirs of Nalys realize a dream spanning three generations to join this leading prestigious and historic appellation. A property of 125 contiguous acres, Nalys is comprised of three spectacular plots within three of the best vineyards in the appellation: the famous “La Crau”, Nalys, and “Bois Sénéchal”. Already listed in regional land registers at the end of the 16th century, Chateau de Nalys is one of the oldest properties in the appellation, and begins a new chapter in the hands of Guigal.
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.
Full-bodied and flavorful, white Rhône blends originate from France’s Rhône Valley. Today these blends are also becoming popular in other regions. Typically some combination of Grenache Blanc, Marsanne, Roussanne and Viognier form the basis of a white Rhône blend with varying degrees of flexibility depending on the exact appellation. Somm Secret—In the Northern Rhône, blends of Marsanne and Roussanne are common but the south retains more variety. Marsanne, Roussanne as well as Bourboulenc, Clairette, Picpoul and Ugni Blanc are typical.