2021 Clos Saint-Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes
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More garrigue, Provençal herbs, pepper, and ripe framboise and cherry notes all emerge from the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes, another beautiful 2021 from this estate that has a gorgeous sense of purity and elegance. While this estate produces incredible wines in truly great vintages, it’s in the more challenging vintages where you see the strength of both the team and the terroir. The 2021s here are clearly some of the top wines in the vintage. They show the fresher, more elegant style of the vintage while still bringing beautiful depth of fruit and texture. Unfortunately, this state was dramatically impacted by the hailstorm in 2022, and as such, none of the wines were ready to be tasted. I’ll report on these wines in next year’s report, but in the meantime, if you’re looking to purchase 2021s from Chateauneuf du Pape, don’t miss these.
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Average Score
Jeb Dunnuck
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate
More reviews and scores
A blend for the American importer, the 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes is always pretty much the same assemblage as the regular bottling but with a higher proportion of old-vine Grenache. In this year, that means more black cherries in the mix and a bit more tannin heft. It still boasts some red berry notes as well. Full-bodied and velvety, it's a terrific effort that provides solid value and should provide solid drinking for the next decade.
The 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is slightly more layered than the traditional Châteauneuf-du-Pape. A well-crafted powerhouse, it displays strawberry, raspberry, cranberry and licorice paired with dried herbs and minty undertones. This fruit-driven 2021 red is fresher and less overtly flamboyant than the 2020 or 2019 rendition, which amplifies its elegance.