2019 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Community Tasting Note
Jeff Leve wrote:
98 Points
Tuesday, October 4, 2022 - It is the sublime sense of symmetry and richness on the palate, along with the sensuous texture that hit all the right notes. There is a gorgeous purity to the sweet kirsch, length, and silky tannins that make this vintage stand out. This wine should age and evolve for 2-3 decades with ease. The yields were only 22 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is a blend of 45% Grenache, 40% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, and the remaining 5% consists of various, allowable grape varieties. The grapes are as always 100% destemmed. Drink from 2025 - 2040.
Post a Comment / View Jeff Leve's profile9 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (11,079 views)
13 comments have been posted
Post a Comment
/ View Jeff Leve's profile
9 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (11,079 views)
9 people found this helpful, do you? Yes - No / Report Issue (11,079 views)
Comment posted by lkilpio:
10/4/2022 3:01:00 PM - Thanks for a very valuable note!
Comment posted by Jeff Leve:
10/4/2022 3:11:00 PM - Fans of Clos des Papes should be all over this. Always glad to help.
Comment posted by lkilpio:
10/4/2022 3:16:00 PM - It is always a pleasure to read your reviews! I am really a fan of this wine, in spite of drinking only the lesser vintages so far. I am looking forward to opening my two bottles of vintage 2019 from 2025 onwards.
Comment posted by Jeff Leve:
10/4/2022 3:19:00 PM - Have you had the 2016?
Comment posted by lkilpio:
10/4/2022 3:21:00 PM - No. As said, I have only had some lesser vintages, and 2016 should be a better vintage.
Comment posted by Jeff Leve:
10/4/2022 3:29:00 PM - You can see my recent on the wine if you wish. Also, if you desire more info on Clos des Papes, vineyards, practices, etc, you should read my site.
Comment posted by lkilpio:
10/4/2022 3:36:00 PM - Thanks, I will check them!
Comment posted by SchlaepDog:
10/4/2022 9:24:00 PM - You didn’t notice the crazy high 15% alcohol. That was what I predominantly tasted over two days two weeks ago. How long was your bottle open?
My bottle was so undrinkable that I didn’t rate it
Comment posted by Jeff Leve:
10/5/2022 8:50:00 AM - No, not all. Most Chateauneuf du Pape are quite high in alcohol and with the 2019 Clos des Papes, the wealth of fruit was the experience. As for decanting, almost all the young wines I post notes on are popped and poured, either at the winery or in my home office, when the sample was shipped.
Comment posted by SchlaepDog:
10/5/2022 8:59:00 AM - Well, something doesn't seem right then, as our tasting experiences were 180 degrees different. Either I got a bad bottle or there is major bottle variation. Read my note below yours, the wine tasted terrible. It is hard to believe we tasted the same $100 dollar wine. No way was the bottle I tasted a 98 and was closer to a 78. And I'm fairly generous with my scores if you see my notes.
Anyway, cheers.
Comment posted by Jeff Leve:
10/5/2022 9:12:00 AM - There is no such thing as bottle variation. All the wine is placed in blending vats and bottled, so they are uniform. I taste a ton of very young wine, so for me, I have no issue with wines in their youth. I even drink them with dinner, though I prefer older wines :) Wines that are too alcoholic for me are hot, offering jam, figs, and, or a lot of blue fruit. This wine did not do that. Other Chateauneuf at that degree of alcohol can seem hot. Do you like other vintages of Clos des Papes? Have you had other recent vintages, 15, 16, 17 or 18?
Comment posted by SchlaepDog:
10/6/2022 7:52:00 AM - I have the 16 and 18 in the cellar, but have not drunk them. I am just going to assume I got a bad bottle at this point and hope for the best with my other bottles. I talked to my retailer (K&L wines) and they put a note on my file about my experience and will accept a return in 2035-2040 if the other bottles are similarly bad when I drink them.
I do find your comment about wine variation perplexing as there is no debate in the wine world about it. Wines that use natural cork show variation due to the differing oxygen rates, although that is more apparent with aged wines. However, there is also variation from bottling, especially if you make a lot, and even if you can fit it in one tank. Papes makes 100,000 bottles of this wine. There is no way that the first wine bottled will taste EXACTLY the same as number 100,000.
Comment posted by Jeff Leve:
10/6/2022 10:20:00 AM - With older wines, there can be a lot of variation. Bottle to bottle, case to case. But that is very different from young wines, produced today. Previously, especially in the Rhone, wines were bottled when sold, so there could be an extensive period of extra aging. Even if they were bottled at the same time, without blending vats, bottles could be different as well. And corks were not as tightly controlled as they are today.
But today, all of the top estates use top-quality corks. Bottling is done under the best conditions. The mobile bottling trucks are incredible and the estates that are large enough to handle their own bottling, are of the best quality.
I am confident there is almost no bottle variation. But with time, all cork seals vary, which can produce different results.