Paul Avril Clos des Papes
CDP
Chateauneuf du Pape
2001

The producer

Two generations of Avrils studied winemaking in Burgundy and current incumbent generation Vincent Avril worked at Mount Mary in Australia’s Yarra Valley. Clos des Papes is renowned for a beautifully elegant version of Chateauneuf-du-Pape.

The family has been producing Chateauneuf-du-Pape since the 1600s and now farm 35 hectares biodynamically in the heart of the commune. Predominantly Grenache with 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah and of 5% of other varieties add a subtle spicing; no new oak is used so the fruit shows all its purity and finesse.

They are highly regarded for their red wines but they also make an outstanding Chateauneuf Blanc. Clos des Papes’ Chateauneuf Blanc blends equal proportions of Bourboulenc, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Picardin, Piquepoul and Roussanne and the wines doesn’t go through malolactic fermentation, which makes this a fresher version of the classic rich style of white Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and a wine of real class. We offer both red and white wines from Clos des Papes. 

The wine

The Chateauneuf is Clos des Papes’ flagship wine and produced from vines of minimum 50 years of age. The blend is made up of around 65% Grenache, with 20% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, and 5% other varieties. Grapes are destemmed and the different grape varieties are co-fermented. The wine then ages in old foudres for 15 months. This is without a doubt fine Chateauneuf, the body is full and generous, with layers of concentrated fruit, yet balanced by savoury complexity and firm tannins. Wonderful wines.

We choose our wines based on a range of criteria (see how we choose our wines) of which critic scores is just one. Rather than simply highlight the best score to promote a wine, our average critic score is calculated from the scores provided by several respected wine critics, who we follow for specific regions. They do not represent all critic scores and, wherever possible, we try and give more weight to more recent reviews. Where appropriate we consider market-based scores like Global Wine Score or Wine Searcher Average scores.

As a rule, we look to offer wines that achieve a 92/100 average critic score or better and frankly a lot of very good wines simply don’t make the cut. As a high-end provider we want to reflect that positioning in the quality of wines we offer. Such wines are only a tiny fraction of those generally on offer in the market. We believe that an average score is a more conservative and representative approach, but it is still subjective and only offered as a guide to our customers, who will (and should) do their own research. We will add individual critic scores to our website in the future.