Clos des Papes Chateauneuf-du-Pape white 2005

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Jeb Dunnuck,Sept. 2015): "A vintage that Avril is selling to restaurants as he thinks it's drinking beautifully (and I agree), the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc has superb freshness and minerality in its honeyed, hazelnut, licorice and stone fruit-driven bouquet. Layered, pure and balanced, with both freshness and richness, it will continue to evolve nicely, but there's no need to hold off."

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Robert M. Parker, Fev. 2007): "This is one of the finest estates for white Chateauneuf du Pape, which can often be very long-lived. None of it goes through malolactic fermentation and they never acidify the wines. In 2005 it is made primarily from Bourboulenc, Roussanne, Clairette, white Grenache, and Picpoul. Notes of marzipan, honeysuckle, pear, and white flowers jump from the glass of this full-bodied wine that tips the scales at about 13.9% alcohol. Interestingly, the Avrils say their white Chateauneuf du Pape is much lower in alcohol than their red. By the way, they also made terrific white Chateauneuf du Pape, assuming you can still find any, in both 2004 and 2003, but sadly only around 1,000 cases are produced, which is significant for an estate Chateauneuf du Pape.

This exquisitely run estate continues to turn out wines of great fragrance, richness as well as flavor authority and integrity. The yields are always among the lowest in the appellation. While they have 87 acres and can produce as much as 8,000 cases of Chateauneuf du Pape, the yields in 2003 were 23 hectoliters per hectare, in 2004, 22 hectoliters per hectare, and in 2005, 21 hectoliters per hectare. Their best value, and it?s one heck of a bistro wine, is the non-vintage concoction of Grenache, Syrah, Merlot, and Carignan actually cropped at an amazingly low 32 hectoliters per hectare."