2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina
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The 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Deux Ex-Machina is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre, with the Grenache brought up in concrete tanks and the Mourvèdre in new barrels. It's another dead ringer for a great Burgundy with its bright cherry, framboise, new leather, and floral aromas and flavors. It has beautifully integrated oak, full body, terrific ripeness, and a great finish. It's most likely the wine of the vintage and has the fresher, elegant style of the vintage while still being powerful and layered. While this estate produces incredible wines in truly great vintages, it’s in the more challenging vintages where you see the strength of both the team and the terroir. The 2021s here are clearly some of the top wines in the vintage. They show the fresher, more elegant style of the vintage while still bringing beautiful depth of fruit and texture. Unfortunately, this state was dramatically impacted by the hailstorm in 2022, and as such, none of the wines were ready to be tasted. I’ll report on these wines in next year’s report, but in the meantime, if you’re looking to purchase 2021s from Chateauneuf du Pape, don’t miss these.
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Jeb Dunnuck
Jeb Dunnuck
More reviews and scores
The 2021 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina is a strong candidate to be wine of the vintage. A blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre, it combines scents of black truffles and black cherries with hints of cedar and vanilla (the Mourvèdre is aged in new oak, the Grenache in concrete). It's full-bodied and concentrated, supple and almost creamy in feel, then long and velvety on the finish. Bravo.
The 2021 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus Ex Machina is this year’s front-runner at Clos Saint-Jean. Made in the usual blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre, its perfume bursts with ripe red and black fruit aromas, melted licorice, roasted almonds, mint and cedar. Vibrant and complex, it offers refreshing acidity, velvety tannins and concludes with an eccentric finish.
Possibly the wine of the vintage (at least at this early stage), the 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Deus-Ex Machina is a 60/40 split of Grenache and Mourvedre, with the Grenache brought up in foudre and the Mourvedre in demi-muids. Its vivid ruby/purple hue is followed by rock star notes of kirsch, blackberries, cured meats, woodsmoke, and dried flowers. Rich, full-bodied, and concentrated, it’s an incredible effort in this challenging vintage.