Three epic Châteauneuf-du-Papes

published 28 February 2020

2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Domaine de la Solitude, Southern Rhône, France £33.99, reduced to £26.99, strictlywine.co.uk

The people at Strictly Wine assure me that the reduced prices shown here will still be live at the time of this publication, which is awesome news for us all. My featured estate Châteauneuf, its white sibling, 2018 Châteauneuf-du Pape Blanc (£35.49, reduced to £28.99), and the red super-cuvée 2015 Châteauneuf-du Pape, Cuvée Barberini (£54, reduced to £41.99), are quite simply the finest releases from this much overrated appellation I have tasted in aeons.

The grandeur, complexity and depth and accuracy of fruit shown by each wine took my breath away – I couldn’t believe the effect they had on my senses. The white is every inch a diva, with richness and indulgence on the peach-blossom-kissed nose, but it is the palate, which brings this exuberance under control with deft acidity and a dramatic pinch of minerality, that made me gasp.

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The two reds offer masses of impact on the nose, but the flavours are honed, mellow, super-long and with no trace of unwanted coarseness or gruffness, unlike so many wines from this region. The estate wine is drinking perfectly already and it is staggering value for money when you consider the depth and nobility of its stance on your senses. Barberini is flashy, full, swaggering and memorable, but it doesn’t overplay its hand, keeping the oak and alcohol in perfect harmony with the lusty fruit. Do not miss out on these epic wines.

• Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition’s Communicator of the Year (matthewjukes.com)

Matthew Jukes has worked in the UK wine business for well over three decades and during this time has written 14 wine books.

Matthew regularly lectures, judges, speaks at wine conferences and runs masterclass tastings for both corporate and private clients all over the world. Matthew is also the creator of his ground-breaking initiative, the One Day Wine School, an indulgent day of tasting and learning first performed in 2006.

He has been the MoneyWeek wine correspondent since 2006 and has written a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine since 1999. His four highly-acclaimed, annual wine reports – the Burgundy En Primeur Report, the Bordeaux En Primeur Report, the Piemonte Report and the 100 Best Australian Wines – are published on his website, www.matthewjukes.com.

Matthew is one of the world’s leading experts on Australian wine and, with Brisbane-based wine writer Tyson Stelzer, runs an annual competition in Australia to find ‘The Great Australian Red’. He was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK at the 2012 Australia Day Foundation Gala dinner.

Matthew is a winner of the International Wine and Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year Trophy. His thoughts, recommendations and tastings notes are followed very closely by the wine world at large.