Domaine de la Charbonniere Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2020
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Sumptuous bouquet of white flowers, citruses, lavender, and honey, as well as, flint stone. The mouth is round and creamy yet with a nice tension and a long finish.
Blend: 40% Grenache Blanc, 40% Roussane, 20% Clairette
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Powerful and weighty, yet very bright and clean, this has so much white peach and melon on the nose, but also delicate, spicy notes. In spite of the compactness of the palate, the mineral freshness pulls this jumbo dry white into the air at the long and exciting finish. A cuvée of grenache blanc, roussanne and clairette.
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Wine Spectator
Densely packed and structured, this is tightly coiled with layers of yellow apple, creamed pear and warm baking spices held firmly in check by a spine of minerality. Reveals burnt sugar, ginger and singed orange rind that play out across the long, vibrant finish. Grenache Blanc, Roussanne and Clairette. Drink now.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Based on 40% Grenache Blanc, 40% Roussanne, and the rest Clairette, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc has a spicy, clean, citrus and tangerine-driven bouquet. On the palate, it shows good depth and richness, with medium body, some smoky oak, good mid-palate density, and a great finish. It will round into form with another 6-12 months of bottle age and should age quite well.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Another successful year for Charbonnière's white, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc features notes of citrus zest and white peaches. A blend of 40% each Grenache Blanc and Roussanne, with 20% Clairette, it's medium to full-bodied, silky, gently expansive and generous, with excellent balance and harmony. Best after 2021
Other Vintages
2021-
Jeb
Dunnuck - Vinous
- Decanter
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Wine
Spectator -
Jeb
Dunnuck -
Robert
Parker
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker -
Jeb
Dunnuck
It was in 1912 that Eugene Maret bought Domaine de la Charbonniere as a gift for his wife who was a native of Chateauneuf and the daughter of a winemaker. Their son Fernand Maret inherited a part of the Domaine and enlarged it upon the birth of his son Michel.
Today Michel Maret had over 16 hectares of vineyards located in the high plateaux of Les Brusquieres and La Crau both covered with the famous cailloux roulets and at Mourre des Perdix, sandy soil dotted with larger stones.
The passion and know-how of the winemaker, handpicking of the fruit, and careful sorting at the winery enable Michel Maret to optimize all the promise of a great terrior.
The vinification at the Domaine follows the classic style: no destemming, and three weeks fermentation in stainless steel vats, after which the wine is aged in large oak fourdes for 12-18 months.
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.
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.