Châteauneuf du Pape, Blanc, Clos des Papes, 2022
A richer styled, succulent blend of stone fruits, lemon cream, lime leaf and wild flowers. Beautifully textured with a soothing trace of honey and pep of stone and salt on the finish. A blend comprising 20% each of Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Clairette, Roussanne and Picpoul. As ever the blend is fermented and aged in steel tank sur lie before bottling in late spring after the vintage.
critic reviews
Expressing more ripeness than the preceding vintage, the 2022 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc is a hedonistic treat. Full-bodied and supple, it evokes precise lemon peel, spring flowers, acacia, grapefruit and white peach as well as tropical nuances. Viscously textured, round and layered, the 2022 is game-on.
Produced from roughly equal proportions of six varieties, co-fermented in stages, as each one is deemed ripe and picked, the 2022 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc is atypically plush and ripe (it's close to 15% alcohol), marked by pineapple, white peach and tangerine notes. It's full-bodied and round, deceptively easy to drink yet concentrated and long on the finish. I suspect it may age longer than my projected range, but there's no compelling reason to wait on this vintage.