2009 Clos des Papes, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rouge

Taking on golden hints now, this is clearly mature, with notes of baked quince, lanolin, barley sugar, macadamia nut and hazelnut. On the palate it's broad and generous, with mouth-coating glycerol. Welcome acidity rises on the finish, and it ends dry, with a little burnt sugar. The alcohol is gently warming on the long finish, but this has all the length, breadth, depth and resonance of great white Châteauneuf. A blend of Roussanne, Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc, Picardan and Piquepoul Blanc. No malolactic.

Still relatively young tasting, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape accents lush red fruit with hints of leather and Asian five spice powder. It's full-bodied and velvety, ripe, plush and long, a completely delicious taste experience that culminates in a lick of salted licorice. Owners should count themselves lucky to have purchased some, as this still has a decade or more of life ahead of it. As Paul-Vincent Avril said, "2009 is still a baby—decant it if you can."

The 2009 Châteauneuf Du Pape is showing beautifully, with an incredibly expressive, complex, and nuanced perfume of sweet red and black fruits, ground pepper, sappy garrigue, licorice, and leather. While this was a monster on release, it's nothing but elegance and finesse today, with a seamless mouthfeel, integrated tannins, and a great finish. I love it today, yet it has another decade or more of prime drinking with, I suspect, a gradual decline thereafter. As I’ve often written, it’s almost impossible to have too much Clos des Papes in the cellar! Drink: 2025-2039.

Taking on some lovely forest floor scents, with polished wood and a touch of brown sugar to the strawberry fruit. It’s full-bodied, really quite voluminous and powerful. Intense blackberry, liquorice and seared meat characters present themselves on the palate – this is big, structured, powerful and tannic. The alcohol is showing just a little bit, but there's a lovely menthol side bringing freshness. This was the product of a very long fermentation, so it was stressful to vinify. I've been lucky enough to taste this several times this year, and there is some bottle variation, but this was a particularly good one. Drinking Window: 2025 - 2050
Tasted by: Matt Walls (at Rhône, France, 11 Sep 2022)
Part of Matt Walls: my top wines of 2022

Full ruby. Intense aromas of red fruit preserves, anise, lavender and exotic spices. Supple and expansive on the palate, offering deep raspberry and cherry flavors accented by floral pastille and spice nuances. Tannins come on late and build with air, but the fruit keeps pace. Finishes firm and very long, with resonating floral and spice notes and impressive energy.

The 2009 is showing better out of bottle than it was last year. Gorgeous kirsch liqueur notes, raspberry jam, forest floor, spice box, new saddle leather and a peppery spiciness are all present in this deep, voluptuously textured, open-knit Clos des Papes, which is atypically forward, luscious and approachable already. These wines often need a good 5-10 years of cellaring in the more structured vintages, but the 2009 is gorgeous from the get-go. This full-bodied, deep, concentrated wine has a deep purple color and should drink well for 20-25 years without ever really closing down. Readers may want to think of this as a slightly more concentrated version of the 2003, which is one of the great stars of that vintage.
-Wine Advocate #197 Oct 2011

(92-95 pts)
I tasted through various foudres of the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape and it is unquestionably a top-flight wine for Clos des Papes that is seductive and forward by the standards of this estate. It reminded me of the precocious style of the 2003, and Avril told me the 2009 is less alcoholic than either the 2003 or 2007, and the pH is a normal 3.75. Yields were a very small 20 hectoliters per hectare, largely because of their selection process and the drought. Every foudre I tasted was beautifully pure displaying a deep ruby/plum color, sweet kirsch and black raspberry fruit, full body, decent acidity (they never acidify here) and sweet, velvety tannins. This should turn out to be a mid-90-point wine that will take a back seat to the 2007, possibly even to their monumental 2006, but will surpass what they did in 2008, 2005, 2004, 1999 and 1998. The 2009 is a beautiful success that should drink well for 15+ years.
-Wine Advocate #191 Oct 2010

Crystallised ginger, saffron, white peach, slight musky grape character. Definitely a touch of oxidation on the palate, giving a hint of orange peel. Loads of complexity on the finish – fennel, crème fraiche, almond. I would drink this now, but it is still going strong. (RH)