2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Adrastee
Buying options
Tasting notes
The 'Adastree' Halos de Jupiter is a superb discovery from Chateauneuf du Pape and although we do not have many cases remaining (most of our allocation having been snapped up by our many avid Southern Rhone buyers yesterday), we wanted to make sure that all our subscribers hear about it and have a chance to secure one of our last remaining cases. Despite being a relatively unknown name, achieving a 98 point score from Rhone expert Jeb Dunnuck puts it alongside the top names in the region. This score comes as no surprise given the quality in the bottle. From the finest terroir in Chateauneuf du Pape, the ‘La Crau’ lieu-dit, this 100% Grenache from over 100 year old vines is made in minuscule quantities (1,500 bottles total production). With 2016 being a brilliant vintage for the Southern Rhone (one that Jeb Dunnuck describes as "truly extraordinary…… a vintage that readers should buy with abandon") and the very attractive price tag of GBP 295 per case (6*75cl), there is really very little standing in the way of this being an irresistible buy. Oenologist Philippe Cambie has been crowned Wine Advocate’s ‘Winemaker of the Year' and tasting this wine, we can truly attest to the fantastic terroir, vintage and winemaking that have come together here.
Critic scores
Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Josh Raynolds, Vinous
More reviews and scores
Rich, full and lush, the wine is concentrated with perfectly ripe, sweet, pure raspberries, red and black cherries, thyme and flowers. This is already drinking well, so if you have a bottle, or two, there is no need to hesitate. The wine is made from 100% old vine Grenache planted in the famous La Crau vineyard.
Lurid ruby. An exotically perfumed bouquet evokes red fruit preserves, Asian spices and incense, and a suave lavender note builds with air. Fleshy, seamless and pliant in the mouth, offering intense, spice-accented raspberry and cherry pie flavors that are braced and lifted by juicy acidity. The floral note comes back steadily and carries emphatically through a sweet, strikingly long finish shaped by velvety, harmonious tannins.
The flagship is the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Adrastée, which is always 100% Grenache sourced from the famed La Crau lieu-dit, from vines south of Vieux Télégraphe, brought up in once used Burgundy barrels. This beauty is the finest vintage to date and offers an extraordinary bouquet of black raspberries, incense, lavender, and a loamy soil/minerality that emerges with time in the glass. Full-bodied, rich and powerful, it stays lively and graceful on the palate, has building tannins, no hard edges, and a finish that just won’t quit. It’s a blockbuster to enjoy over the coming 10-15 years.