CHATEAUNEUF CLOS DES PAPES ROUGE 2020

Superbe bouteille .

PARKER 5 MAI 2022 : 96-98

Proprietor Paul-Vincent Avril expects to bottle 100,000 bottles of something approximating this "final blend," tasted out of foudre. A blend of 55% Grenache, 35% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah and other permitted varieties, the 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape looked exceptional on this day, offering up scents of framboise and kirsch alongside dried flowers and Asian spices. Full-bodied yet weightless, silky and long, this is special stuff, complex and balanced.

Like many of the producers I visited in late 2021, Paul-Vincent Avril seemed happy to receive a visitor after so many months of virtual isolation. "We've had a good summer—not too hot," he said. The estates parcels were, however, badly affected by frost in the spring. His team began picking on September 20, paused over the following weekend for rain, and he expected them to finish on October 2. "The phenolic maturity is there, the sugars are there," Avril said. "No, it won't be like 2019, but I think we will come in around 14.5–15 degrees [of alcohol]. I think, I don't like to say before the vintage is finished."