2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes
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Tasting notes
Opaque ruby. Powerful, mineral-accented blackberry and cherry aromas are complemented by incense, licorice and potpourri flourishes. Supple, sweet and impressively concentrated, offering palate-staining red and dark berry, cherry liqueur, fruitcake and lavender pastille flavors braced by a core of juicy acidity. Plush yet surprisingly lithe for its brawn, showing a suave floral note and outstanding clarity and velvety tannins on the strikingly long, smoke- and spice-tinged finish.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Deeply colored, this is incredibly concentrated. The wine is fleshy, silky and palate staining. The fruit coats your palate, but it's never heavy, or overblown. Instead, everything is in balance. The richly textured wine has polish, length and purity, along with a sexy style and a finish that you cannot stop tasting, staying with you for over 50 seconds! The wine is a blend of 85% Grenache, 10% Syrah and 5%Mourvedre.
Time will tell if this wine equals the stellar 2015; it's certainly very close in quality. The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is a blend of approximately 75% Grenache, 12% Mourvèdre, 8% Syrah and the rest other permitted varieties. Tarry and deep on the nose, it delivers waves of blackberries and black cherries on the palate, framing those flavors with plenty of richness, layers of silky tannins and a long, elegant finish.
Bottled at the same time, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Vieilles Vignes gives up more cassis, tapenade, underbrush, cured meats, and earth, and it’s a slightly more dense, backward wine compared to the Chaupin. Full-bodied and beautifully concentrated, with tons of structure, it stays fresh and elegant, has sweet tannins, and a blockbuster finish. It's an incredible, borderline perfect wine from this estate that will keep for two decades or more.