2017 Charvin Chateauneuf du Pape
Estimated value
Buying options
Tasting notes
Marked by lifted aromas of red fruits and violets, now that it is in bottle the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape is reassuringly excellent, although clearly not up to the level of this estate's best vintages. Cherries and raspberries are framed by firm but silky tannins on the medium to full-bodied palate, trailing slowly away into a dusty swirl of dark chocolate and cocoa-powder tannins on the finish.
Critic scores
Richard Hemming MW, jancisrobinson.com
Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
More reviews and scores
Brilliant magenta. An assertively perfumed bouquet of ripe red and blue fruits, Moroccan spices and incense carries a smoky overtone. Sweet, penetrating raspberry preserve, cherry, lavender pastille and spicecake flavors show impressive depth as well as vivacity. Displays superb clarity and floral thrust on the finish, which features smoothly interwoven tannins and lingering spiciness. This wine shows just how much complexity can be achieved, even in a hot vintage, in the absence of any oak, old or new.
The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape is an awesome wine from Laurent, and while it shows the sunny, ripe, sexy style of the vintage, it never loses the elegance and purity that’s the hallmark of Charvin. Lots of kirsch, graphite, dried flowers, garrigue, and ample minerality flow to a medium to full-bodied, silky, incredibly well-balanced red that has a stacked mid-palate, building tannins, and a great finish. Give bottles 4-5 years of bottle age and it will cruise over the following two decades. Under the helm of Laurent Charvin, Domaine Charvin remains one of the undisputed reference points for classic, traditional, elegantly styled Châteauneuf du Pape today. The style of the wines comes largely from the estate’s location in the cooler, northern parts of the appellation but the consistent quality, year after year, comes from the incredible talent and work ethic of Laurent.