Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2018
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Robert
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The Roussane is put into one year old barrels to ferment and the other varietals into stainless steel vats. The wine in the vats is raised on its fine lees but without stirring while the wine in oak is regularly stirred to put the lees in suspension.
Blend: 40% Clairette, 17% Bourboulenc, 30% Roussanne, 10% Grenache Blanc, 1% Picpoul Blanc, 1% Picardan, 1% Clairette Rose
Professional Ratings
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Wine Spectator
Plump but fresh, featuring engaging star fruit, white peach and chamomile notes, backed by a juicy, unadorned finish that ripples with energy. Drink now through 2021.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Always worth checking out, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc offers a classy bouquet of apple and orchard fruits, white flowers, citrus, and rocky minerality as well as a medium to full-bodied, textured, yet elegant style. Based largely on Clairette, yet with just about every permitted variety, drink it over the coming 4-5 years.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Mainly Clairette and Roussanne, but with six varieties in total, the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc is classically made and styled. A tiny proportion goes into oak, but this is a full-bodied cornucopia of fruit, with hints of pineapple, melon and tangerine. Plump in the mouth, it's fresh, clean and easy to drink.
Other Vintages
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James
Suckling
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Jeb
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Robert
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James
Suckling
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Robert
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Dunnuck
While the family are strict traditionalists, they still allow us to make our North Berkeley Barrel Selection from wine raised in used Burgundy barrels we provide. Jean-Claude Sabon performs most of the vineyard work himself, while his son Thierry (who has a Ph.D in physics) manages winemaking duties.
Clos du Mont Olivet Chateauneuf-du-Pape bursts forth from the glass with aromatics of crushed vanilla beans, Mexican chocolate, coffee, and a sandalwood warmth that we’ve come to recognize as the Mont Olivet signature. From 80-year-old vines, our barrel selection wine is usually 65% Grenache, with the remainder Syrah and Mourvèdre.
"La Cuvee du Papet," named for Joseph Sabon, Sr., (papet means “Grandpa”) is a selection of the finest lots in the cellar, and is acknowledged by many to be one of the most age-worthy, fascinating wines produced in the appellation.
North Berkeley Imports
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.