Clos St. Antonin Chateauneuf-du-Pape 2017
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Dunnuck
Jeb -
Parker
Robert -
Suckling
James -
Spectator
Wine
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Jeb Dunnuck
The same mix of La Crau, Font de Loup, and Saint Georges lieux-dits brought up in a foudre, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape has a Rayas-like bouquet of kirsch liqueur, candied rose petal, orange zest, and spice. It's incredibly polished, elegant and layered on the palate, with fine tannins, terrific balance, and a great finish. This is a brilliant wine I’d be thrilled to have in the cellar. Rating: 94+
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape is 100% foudre-aged Grenache, sourced from mainly sandy soils in the lieux-dits of Font du Loup and La Crau. Raspberries and chocolate come together in a seamless whirl of aromas and flavors in this silky, full-bodied offering. Drink it anytime during the next decade.
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James Suckling
One foudre of old-vine grenache (60 to 80 years old), planted on sandy soil. This has a very ripe and rich, raspberry core with abundantly fleshy berries and a plush, open-knit feel to the raspberry finish.
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Wine Spectator
Charming and pure, featuring a lovely beam of raspberry and cherry puree, flecked with savory, lilac and lavender notes. Reveals a light stony echo on the unadorned finish.
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2021-
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Clos Saint Antonin is a 15 hectare estate located outside the town of Jonquières within the Côtes-du-Rhône Village of Plan de Dieu. A short drive away from Courthézon where Domaine de la Janasse is situated, Clos Saint Antonin was purchased by the Sabon family in 2014. Small, compact and contiguous estates rarely come on the market in the Rhône, let along ones planted on the classic red clays, galets and sand typical of Plan de Dieu. While it is quite common to see the famed estates of Châteauneuf-du-Pape looking over the Rhône river towards Lirac to expand their holdings, more and more are looking north to Plan de Dieu since this terroir is quite similar to what they find in their backyard. While the whole family is involved with its farming and winemaking, Isabelle Sabon is heading up this new project – one supplemented by some of her family’s vineyards in Le Crau for the Clos Saint Antonin Châteauneuf-du-Pape.
With bold fruit flavors and accents of sweet spice, Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre form the base of the classic Rhône Red Blend, while Carignan, Cinsault and Counoise often come in to play. Though they originated from France’s southern Rhône Valley, with some creative interpretation, Rhône blends have also become popular in other countries. Somm Secret—Putting their own local spin on the Rhône Red Blend, those from Priorat often include Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon. In California, it is not uncommon to see Petite Sirah make an appearance.
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.