Châteauneuf-du-Pape Weathers the Challenges and Changes 

BY JOSH RAYNOLDS | OCTOBER 14, 2021

Châteauneuf-du-Pape has plenty to offer in 2019, 2018 and 2017, although not in the quantities of the preceding two years. All three vintages produced several wines that are extremely user-friendly, offering abundant, expressive fruit and adequate but not forbidding structure, which is what the market is demanding more and more of these days.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape faces significant challenges from changing weather patterns. Two thousand-nineteen, 2018 and 2017 each presented a different set of hurdles. Yields were off, sometimes severely, in 2017 and 2018 because of frost and mildew, respectively. Although 2019 was consistently warm to hot and quite dry, it was a less problematic year, and yields were healthy, much to the relief of stressed-out growers. The good news for many consumers is that most wines from all three vintages will show well on the young side, at least compared to wines being made a couple of decades or a generation ago, because of their ripeness and relatively easy-going structures. 

Large, round river stones, or galets roulés, dominate the southern vineyards of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and were prized for retaining the days’ heat through cold nights. But the weather has changed, and the nights are often warm now.

The 2019 Growing Season and Wines

A blend of ripeness and freshness, favoring the ripe aspect, marks most of the wines of the 2019 vintage. Because Châteauneuf-du-Pape leans so heavily on Grenache, after two years of weather-related issues, 2019 was a huge relief to the vines and those who tend them. The region enjoyed a spring of moderate temperatures, with no frost events. Warm (but not hot) weather started in June and carried through the summer with some short heat waves. The appellation also enjoyed well-timed, moderate, off and on rainfall just before harvest. Across the area, the grapes were clean and disease-free. Sugar levels in the all-important Grenache were on the high side. Tannins were generally more elevated than those of the previous two vintages, though not excessively so, while acidity was higher as well.

The wines often display plenty of dark fruit character. While some can lean toward the ripe side, acidity levels are quite healthy, so richness and power are generally mitigated. In the 2019s, I have often found an interesting and appealing push/pull of depth and vivacity. It will be interesting to see if the underlying acidity in the wines helps to carry them along to older ages than their 2018 and 2017 siblings. For now, I am confident that they will because there’s a good degree of overall tension to the vintage. Readers with traditional palates may find many of the wines a bit on the rich, exotic or confit side for their personal tastes.

The 2018 Growing Season and Wines