2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape: The Beat Goes On

 BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | JULY 18, 2018

Châteauneuf-du-Pape’s monumental 2015 vintage was a tough act to follow, but 2016 was up to the challenge. In fact, in many cases the wines from this uniformly outstanding warm year actually outclass – or at least outmuscle – their older siblings. 

If exuberant ripe fruit, harmonious tannins and an overall impression of generosity and lushness are what you’re after in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, then 2016 has plenty to offer. But the best wines also display real energy, making this a standout vintage.

References to other great years such as 2010 and 2001 abounded during my visits with producers in mid-April, and while I concur with the comparison to 2001, the ‘16s show more flesh, more abundant fruitiness and rounder tannins than the 2010s did at a similar stage. At the same time, I believe that the wines will often be superior to those from recent hot years like 2009, 2007 and 2003 because of their greater freshness. The mostly higher levels of acidity displayed by the ‘16s are largely due to cool nights throughout the growing season and the harvest. That said, as a group these are undeniably powerful, fruit-driven wines, sometimes flamboyantly so. But if large-scaled Châteauneuf isn’t your thing, then this is a vintage to approach carefully, probably even more so than is the case with the almost universally outstanding 2015s.

Best of all, the tannins in the 2016s tend to be round and pliant and they already harmonize nicely with the wines’ abundant fruit rather than enclosing it, as was – and still is – the case with some 2010s and, especially, the 2005s. While I’m confident that the best ‘05s will easily stand the test of time (the ‘10s are still extremely young in most cases), I have also heard from a number of impatient Châteauneuf lovers that they’re worried that the structure of these wines, particularly their tannins, will always dominate the fruit. While I respectfully disagree with this view, I do sympathize with those who prefer fruit to structure and ’05 just isn’t that sort of vintage. Two thousand sixteen, on the other hand, is shaping up to be a vintage that '05 skeptics will be able to get behind. The ‘16s, while well-structured, do show less overt backbone and more sheer heft, power and forward fruit than most examples from 2010 or 2015 (or pretty much any recent vintage, for that matter), which is a plus or a minus, depending on your personal taste.

Post-harvest near Bédarrides, in the southeastern sector of the appellation