Jeb Dunnuck
90 Points
The 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc is similarly colored compared to the 2017 and has a fresh, clean, nicely balanced profile as well as classy stone fruits, crushed citrus and white flowers. It's medium-bodied, has integrated acidity, and terrific purity, as well as the fresher, more moderately concentrated style of the vintage. As with most of the wines here, it’s a field blend of just about every permitted variety.
Jeb Dunnuck
92+ Points
Tart peach, pineapple, white flowers, and spice notes all emerge from the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Boisrenard Blanc, which has a more concentrated style compared to the classic white, yet still plays in the fresh, lively end of the spectrum. With subtle background oak, terrific balance, and a great finish, it's going to gain weight with another year in bottle and keep for over a decade.
jamessuckling.com
91 Points
Toasted spices and a wealth of intense plum-paste, as well as tarry notes. The tannins are assertive and gently chewy, right at the limit of ripeness and extract. Drink or hold.
jamessuckling.com
92 Points
Good fruit-definition in terms of aromas and flavors here. Fresh, brambly, summer berries with blood-orange and wild-herb threads. The tannins are firm, but polished. Enjoy now or hold.
Vinous
94 Points
Brilliant violet. A sexy, expansive nose evokes smoke-accented dark berries, candied licorice and a hint of potpourri. Sappy, well-delineated black and blue fruit preserve flavors show vibrant mineral lift and no rough edges. In an ample but surprisingly energetic style, finishing sweet, floral and extremely long and revealing just a whisper of fine-grained tannins.
Vinous
91 Points
Deep ruby-red. Highly perfumed red fruit preserve, incense and Asian spice aromas show excellent clarity and pick up a smoky mineral element with air. Sappy, sweet and penetrating on the palate, offering juicy raspberry, cherry and lavender pastille flavors and a touch of spicecake. Closes on a vibrating mineral note, delivering well-knit tannins and floral-driven persistence.
The Wine Advocate
93 Points
Beaurenard has excelled this vintage. The 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape is no slouch, with ample richness, bold cherry and apricot fruit and attractive hints of dried spices and garrigue. Complex, full-bodied and supple, it finishes long and silky. It's two-thirds Grenache Noir, with the rest composed of the 17 other permitted grape varieties.
The Wine Advocate
96 Points
Just like the regular cuvée, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Boisrenard includes all 18 of the appellation's permitted varieties, although it's mostly (66%) Grenache Noir. Strawberries and raspberries shine on the nose, followed by a full-bodied palate that's creamy-silky and lush but also bright, lively and long. It's a super effort, at what should be a realistic price.
Wine Spectator
96 Points
Solidly built, with a sappy core of kirsch, blackberry paste and red licorice flavors tightly coiled together and backed by roasted apple wood, warm stone and tobacco leaf notes through the finish. The beautiful fruit should develop nicely with extended cellaring, as this has serious grip and drive. Best from 2020 through 2040.
Wine Spectator
93 Points
Nicely packed, with raspberry and plum compote flavors at the core, liberally lined with singed alder, tobacco and warm brick accents. The finish has a grippy edge, but this red stays fresh and driven overall. Best from 2020 through 2030. 6,000 cases made.
Jeb Dunnuck
92-94 Points
As to the barrel samples, the 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape offers a ripe, dense, powerful profile as well as loads of currant and cassis fruits, full body, a big, rich mid-palate, and a blockbuster finish. I hope it shows this well from bottle!
Jeb Dunnuck
94-96 Points
More Burgundian, with a silky, elegant, finesse-driven style, the 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard is medium to full-bodied and nicely structured, with beautiful purity in its cassis, black cherry, flowers, forest floor, and leafy herb-like aromas and flavors. This wine always picks up depth and richness in bottle and is going to benefit from short-term cellaring.
Jeb Dunnuck
90 Points
Moving to the reds, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape offers plenty of Bing cherry, spice, and some salty minerality in a fresh, elegant, incredibly Burgundian style. It’s finesse-driven, has terrific purity, and will evolve nicely for 10-12 years.
Jeb Dunnuck
98 Points
More complex and nuanced as well as powerful, the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Boisrenard is a field blend (two-thirds Grenache and the rest a mix of varieties) that spent 18 months in a combination of older barrels, new barrels, and foudre. Its deep purple/ruby color is followed by a sensational perfume of blackberries, black raspberries, Asian spices, and graphite. With full-bodied richness, building tannin, remarkable purity, and a huge finish...
Jeb Dunnuck
88-90 Points
There are two Rasteau releases from Domaine de Beaurenard and the entry level 2017 Rasteau has loads to love as well as outstanding potential. Offering lots of darker fruits, spice, new leather, and garrigue, it’s medium-bodied, nicely balanced, and has building minerality and scorched earth notes on the finish. It’s going to drink nicely right out of the gate.
Jeb Dunnuck
90-92 Points
The flagship 2017 Rasteau Argiles Bleues is a beauty that exudes class as well as a complex, nuanced character. Black cherries, spice, dried garrigue, and leather notes give way to a medium to full-bodied, concentrated, nicely structured effort that should benefit from a year or two of bottle age.
Decanter
94 Points
Just 5% of this wine is matured in new oak barriques, the rest spending time in old barriques and foudres for 18 months. It's all destemmed fruit, lending a nose of raspberry with lifted notes of bergamot and cinnamon. It's full-bodied, rich and flowing on the palate, with a considerable weight of wet-clay tannins. An opulent style, it hangs on to its brightness and drinkability. 66% Grenache, 12% Syrah, 12% Mourvèdre, 1% Cinsault, 1% Terret Noir