2020 Clos des Papes Châteauneuf-du-Pape Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rhône France Wine Tasting Note

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2020 Clos des Papes  (Châteauneuf-du-Pape) 98 Flowers are the first thing you notice before discovering all the spice, cloves, kirsch, and dark cherries on the nose. On the palate, the wine is silky, elegant, fresh, supple, and refined. The kirsch shows a beautiful purity and spicy character, along with its refined tannins and peppery strawberries that kick in at the end of the finish. The wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah with the remaining 5% consisting of various, allowable grape varieties. The grapes are as always 100% destemmed. The production is quite low this year at only 25 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is 15.2% ABV, but you do not sense any heat. Drink from 2024-2038. 98 Pts Flowers are the first thing you notice before discovering all the spice, cloves, kirsch, and dark cherries on the nose. On the palate, the wine is silky, elegant, fresh, supple, and refined. The kirsch shows a beautiful purity and spicy character, along with its refined tannins and peppery strawberries that kick in at the end of the finish. The wine is a blend of 55% Grenache, 30% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah with the remaining 5% consisting of various, allowable grape varieties. The grapes are as always 100% destemmed. The production is quite low this year at only 25 hectoliters per hectare. The wine is 15.2% ABV, but you do not sense any heat. Drink from 2024-2038. 98 Pts 6,183 Views   Tasted Feb 23, 2023  • Buy This Wine For The Lowest Price DOWNLOAD TASTING NOTE | Post to

When to Drink Clos des Papes, Anticipated Maturity, Decanting Time

Clos des Papes can be enjoyed on the young side. But this is a wine that is much better with cellaring. Young vintages can be decanted for about 1-2 hours or so. This allows the wine to soften and open its perfume. Older vintages might need very little decanting, just enough to remove the sediment.

Clos des Papes is usually better with 5-8 years of bottle age. Of course that can vary slightly, depending on the vintage. In the best vintages the wine should be consumed within 7-25 years after the vintage.

Serving and Decanting Clos des Papes with Wine, Food Pairing Tips

Clos des Papes is best served at 15.5 degrees Celsius, 60 degrees Fahrenheit. The cool, almost cellar temperature gives the wine more freshness and lift.

Clos des Papes is best served with all types of classic meat dishes, veal, pork, beef, lamb, duck, game, roast chicken, roasted, braised, stewed dishes, barbecue, sausage and cassoulet. Clos des Papes is also good with Asian dishes, hearty fish courses like tuna, mushrooms pasta, eggplant, tomatoes and cheese.

The white wine of Clos des Papes is best served with a myriad of different seafood dishes, shellfish, crab, lobster, sushi, sashimi, chicken, pork and veal, as well as Asian cuisine.

Clos des Papes also produces the value priced, Southern Rhone wine, Petit Vin d'Avril.

www.clos-des-papes.fr