CDP Barbe-Rac, Maison M. Chapoutier 2019

The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Croix De Bois comes from a single vineyard near the town of Bedarrides and, as with the Barbe Rac, is 100% destemmed Grenache aged in concrete tanks. While I ordinarily prefer the Barbe Rac in terms of quality, this cuvée, which comes from cooler, more clays soils, offers a touch more purity and precision in 2019. Medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and nicely focused on the palate, it has incredibly Provençal notes of red and black fruits, peppery garrigue, saddle leather, and chalky minerality. It’s also perfectly balanced. I’d happily drink a bottle today, but a few years in the cellar will do it well, and it will certainly evolve for two decades.

Tons of forest berries and damson plums, but also dried herbs. An extremely expressive wine with great fruit, very fresh and slightly crunchy tannins, plus energy that makes it leap and bound across the palate. Stunning licorice and mineral finish that proves Chateauneuf can be an exciting and elegant wine. From biodynamically grown grapes with Demeter certification. Drinkable now, but best from 2024.

A strong effort, Chapoutier's tank-aged 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Barbe Rac is 100% Grenache from a parcel of old vines near the western edge of the appellation. As always, it showcases outrageously pure red raspberries and cherries, this vintage adding minor floral notes and showing less garrigue than it has in some other years. Packed with flavor, this bold, full-bodied wine features gentle waves of silky tannins, framing a long, intense finish.

The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Barbe Rac also shows the vintage’s more elegant, seamless style. It has an exotic bouquet of wild strawberries, blueberries, marine-like minerality, tapenade, and savory garrigue. Rich, full-bodied, and nicely structured, with plenty of length on the finish, this is another wine that will benefit from 2-4 years of bottle age and be long-lived.