97 POINTS: WINE ADVOCATE - The 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Pure is remarkably balanced, fresh and, yes, pure. The layers of raspberry fruit are
blemish-free, so intense and concentrated that in other hands they might come across as jammy, but here, they're fresh and vibrant, backed by a full-bodied palate that's silky and airy in feel while possessing terrific intensity and depth. It
should drink well for 15+ years.
95 POINTS: WINE SPECTATOR - Fresh, ripe and focused, with a succulent beam of crushed raspberry, boysenberry and red currant fruit racing through,
lined with red licorice details and framed by a judicious apple wood note on the finish. Best from 2021 through 2038.
95 POINTS: VINOUS - Limpid ruby-red. A highly complex, mineral-accented bouquet evokes red berry preserves, incense and Asian spices, and
a sexy floral quality emerges as the wine opens up. Stains the palate with sappy, sharply delineated red berry liqueur and fruitcake flavors that are braced by a spine of juicy acidity. Shows outstanding depth as well as energy, and finishes spicy and extremely long, leaving notes of candied lavender and licorice behind.
95 POINTS: DECANTER - Low yields of just 25hl/ha in 2017 from this 100-year-old Grenache vineyard, planted on sand at the intersection of lieux-dits Grand Pierre, Rayas and Pointu. The fruit is partly destemmed and fermented in concrete, then aged in foudre for 18 months. The aroma is pure damson and plum, lifted with some violet. The palate is full-bodied but not massive, with sweet, juicy plum and raspberry eau-de-vie flavours and good acidity. It's a clear, sprightly, sweetly-fruited style with good length of red fruit flavour, and some alcohol sweetness but no heat. Just 3,000 bottles made. Drinking Window 2020 - 2027.
94 POINTS: JEB DUNNUCK - Brought up all in stainless steel because there wasn’t enough fruit to fill the foudre, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Pure
isn't going to make you forget the incredible 2016, yet it's nevertheless a terrific example of old vine Grenache. It has a classic bouquet of sweet kirsch and blackberry fruit as well as rocking notes of garrigue, white pepper, graphite, and
dried flowers. Rich, medium to full-bodied, concentrated, and with fine tannins, it's a finesse-oriented, Burgundian expression of this cuvée that's going to benefit from 3-4 years of bottle age and keep for 15-20 years.
Pure is handcrafted from a single plot of 100-year-old vines and sandy soil, at the junction of "Grand Pierre", "Rayas" and "Pointu" districts. The century-old Grenache vines are deeply rooted in this mythical plot like no other, with sandy and red Comtat sandstone soil. Not only rare and unique, the resulting wine is indescribably... pure, as well as ethereal, delicate, elegant, fresh, natural, floral, silky, unctuous and absolute. VITICULTURE: Rigorous bud pruning/green harvesting. The picking is entirely by hand, with a meticulous double sorting in the vineyard. WINEMAKING: Gravity-flow underground winery for gentle handling. Wine-making in tulip-shaped concrete tanks. Destemming of underripe stalks. The wine stays on the skins for over 4 weeks. Gentle extractions. Aging in old oak cask for 20 months. The wine is not filtered before bottling.
