2019 Clos du Caillou La Reserve Châteauneuf-du-Pâpe

JD96-99 Last of the barrel samples, the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape La Réserve is the more Mourvèdre dominated release from this team that’s brought up mostly in used demi-muids. It offers a gamey, meaty, complex bouquet of red and blue fruits, smoked game, spring flowers, and a distinct sense of minerality. With an almost Burgundian texture, this full-bodied, balanced, nicely structured 2019 is going to need at least 4-6 years of bottle age, but is pure gold.
WA95-97+ The 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape La Reserve is a full-bodied, velvety-textured wine loaded with dark fruit. Predomiantly black cherries, but with hints of licorice and dark chocolate, it’s ripe, rich and clearly loaded with potential—but does it come across as slightly overdone when compared to some of the mythic vintages of this wine, or will it gain elegance during the rest of its elevage?
Estate Notes: 55% Grenache, 45% Mourvèdre. Sourced from ‘La Guigasse’ and ‘Pignan,’ with mostly sandy soils. Vines 70 years old, on average. Hand-harvested. Destemmed; fermented on indigenous yeasts in upright oak cask. Aged 88% in older demi-muid (600L) and 12% in clay amphorae for 14 months. Unfined and unfiltered.