Over the last several years, the Southern Rhone region of Chateauneuf du Pape has broken into the big leagues.  Fueled by a string of nearly ideal weather conditions, save for 2002, the last decade has produced wines that truly are meant for aging. 

One of the stars of this region is Clos des Papes.  Run by the iconic Paul Avril from 1963-1987, Paul turned over the reins to his son, Vincent, in 1987.  Sadly, Paul passed on this summer.  The estate reached its recent pinnacle with the 2005 vintage, awarded the Wine Spectator #1 wine of the year and the 2003 climbing to #2.  A testament to this estate’s reputation and attention to quality are the consistent accolades from many other of the well known international wine expert services as such Robert Parker and Steve Tanzer.  While the wines can be pricy, running between $100 and $350 per bottle depending upon the vintage (and the worldwide economy), it will provide you with incredible drinking pleasure in the years ahead.  Fortunately, the wine is readily available as typically between 6,000 and 9,000 cases are produced in any given vintage.  Typically, the Clos des Papes is a classic blend of 60% +/- Grenache, 20% +/- Mouvedre, 10% Syrah and a small amount of lesser known grapes (Vaccarese, Counoise, and Muscardin). 

Listed below are descriptions of the Clos des Papes from the last several vintages and the drinking window.  For those searching for a pure representation of this region, it’s hard to surpass these wines.  One caveat…. I have not yet spotted this wine in Tucson and suspect that the distributor, Wines of France in NJ, does not distribute to Arizona.  I will confirm this but most consumers know that internet access is just a few clicks away.