KYSELA PERE ET FILS, LTD.

"Blackberries, roasted garrigue, licorice, and spice notes all define the aromatics of the 2022 Châteauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes, a broad, expansive, opulent Châteauneuf du Pape that has velvety tannins and a huge finish. Based on 40% Grenache, 45% Mourvèdre, and the rest Syrah, with the Grenache brought up in concrete tanks and the Syrah and Mourvèdre in barrel, it shows a kiss of the modern style found in the Les Origines but is just pure Châteauneuf du Pape magic with its purity, opulence, and elegance. It's a gorgeous 2022 that should benefit from just a few years in the cellar and evolve gracefully over the following 15+ years. If you see a bottle, buy it."

- Jeb Dunnuck (Importer Highlight: Fran Kysela ; July 2024), 97 pts

"A robust, vivid and zesty old-vine red with notes of raspberries, warm herbs and mild spices on the nose. It’s full-bodied with fine, firm tannins. Intense, with a juicy core of red fruit at the center and a chewy character. Serious finish with a peppery lift and excellent length. From organically grown grapes. Try after 2026."

- James Suckling (April 8th 2024), 93 pts

"Opaque in color with dark cherries and berries, underbrush and spice scents. A bright, modern style with copious dark fruit flavors on a rich, densely packed, and supple palate. Remarkably long finish. Sourced from very old vines (50-100 years old)—45% Grenache, 45% Mourvedre, and 10% Syrah—matured in concrete vats and oak casks. - Don WINKLER"

- International Wine Review (Kysela Père et Fils Importer: 30 Years Importing High Quality, High Value Wines ; July 26th 2024), 95 pts

"The 2021 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is even more powerful, with a dense purple color as well as serious notes of blackberries, currants, ground pepper, graphite, chocolate, and violets. I love its mid-palate density, it's medium to full-bodied, has building tannins, and a great finish. It's going to need short-term cellaring, but it’s one heck of an impressive 2021."

- Jeb Dunnuck (November 2021),94-96 pts

"Impressive nose of forest berries with stacks of licorice, savory and bark character. Full-bodied and seriously structured on the palate where the tannins are still a bit mouth-puckering and will need some years of aging in bottle to harmonize. Massive weight and moderate acidity at the bold finish. A cuvee of 45% grenache, 45% mourvedre and 10% syrah. From organically grown grapes. Best from 2026."

- James Suckling (April 2023), 93 pts

"The 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is based on 45% each of Grenache and Mourvèdre, with the balance Syrah, all destemmed and raised in 55% new French oak. Gorgeous cassis, violet, graphite, fruitcake, and peppery herbs define this brilliant effort, and it's full-bodied, with a pure, seamless texture, wonderful tannins, and one heck of a great finish. This magical 2019 is going to benefit from 4-5 years of bottle age (it's brilliant even today) yet keep for 20 years or more. Châteauneuf du Pape lovers need to have this in their cellar!"

- Jeb Dunnuck (November 2021),99 pts

"Always the densest and richest of the cuvées at this benchmark estate, the 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes features scents of cedar and mocha layered against a backdrop of black cherries. This actually is a bit like Black Forest cake—that ripe, rich and dense, with chocolate and vanilla shadings—but remains dry and savory in the end, with velvety tannins and tremendous length. It's approximately 50% Grenache (aged in tank), plus 40% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah (both aged in new barrels)."

 - Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (May 2022), 97 + pts

"Drenched with the heat and sun of the 2019 vintage, this massively ripe, strapping wine is packed with flavors of roasted plum and black-cherry compote. Accented by whispers of camphor, sweet tobacco and cinnamon, the concentrated, hulking sip is ringed by fiery tannins. The wine needs time. Approach from 2024 and it should improve well through 2035. - ANNA LEE C. IIJIMA"

 - Wine Enthusiast (May 2022), 95 pts

"Deep violet. A highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red/blue fruits, vanilla and candied flowers, along with Moroccan spice and smoky mineral nuances. Sweet and pliant in the mouth, offering assertive Chambord, boysenberry, lavender and spicecake flavors that deepen steadily through the back half. Plush tannins come in slowly, adding shape to a very long, blue-fruit- and floral-dominated finish.- Josh Raynolds"

- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (October 2021), 95 pts

"Up with the crème de la crème of the vintage, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is a bigger, richer wine than the Les Origines cuvée and has a beautiful core of smoked black fruits, candied violets, peppery garrigue, and scorched earth-like aromas and flavors. Playing in the medium to full-bodied end of the spectrum, it’s flawlessly balanced and has terrific tannins, a stacked mid-palate, and a great finish. It certainly shows the more front end-loaded, fleshy, mildly concentrated style of the 2018 vintage, yet the balance is top-notch, and it’s just a thrill to drink today. It should evolve nicely for 10-15 years."

- Jeb Dunnuck (October 2020),96 pts

"Opaque ruby. Expansive, oak-spiced cherry and blackberry scents are complemented by suggestions of candied violet, licorice and mocha. Lush and weighty on the palate, offering ripe red and dark berry flavors and hints of fruitcake and cola. Shows serious power and spicy lift on a long, gently tannic finish that echoes the cherry and licorice notes. - Josh Raynolds"

- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (October 2021), 94 pts

"The 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes is a bigger, richer, more opulent wine. Beautiful notes of blackcurrants, scorched earth, graphite, and crushed violets, all flow to a full-bodied, Châteauneuf Du Pape that has a voluptuous, sexy texture, brilliant depth of fruit, fine tannins, and a purity of fruit that's hard to find in this vintage. It's a thrill a minute, and while it's approachable today, it will keep for 15-20 years. 416 cases."

- Jeb Dunnuck (August 16th 2019),97+ pts

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- Wine & Spirits Magazine (October 2019),96 pts & TOP 100 BEST WINES OF THE YEAR

Go to Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Vieilles Vignes

"Long, rich, intense and palate filling, long and intense, the wine has concentration, juiciness and layers of dark, earthy cherries, pepper, spice and thyme. The wine was made from blending 45% Grenache, 45% Mourvedre and 10% Syrah."

- The Wine Cellar Insider (January 30th 2020),96 pts

"The flagship is the 2017 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes, a slightly heavy Mourvèdre blend of 45% each of Mourvèdre and Grenache, with 10% Syrah. Aged 16 months in 55% new French oak (the balance is in concrete), this deep, rich, full-bodied beauty boasts killer notes of black and blue fruits, graphite, charred meats, and crushed rocks. It’s straight, focused, and concentrated on the palate, with great, great intensity.

There are few better run estates in the world than that of the Jaume Family’s Domaine Grand Veneur. Located in the northern part of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and run today by brothers Christophe and Sebastien Jaume, the estate produces a quasi-modern style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (their Les Origins and Vieilles Vignes) as well as a growing number of negociant based wines from throughout the Southern Rhône. The 2017s whites are terrific across the board, and this vintage has produced charming, pure wines that are already drinking beautifully. The 2016 reds are some of the finest I’ve tasted from this estate."

- Jeb Dunnuck (August 2018, LE MILLÉSIME… The 2016s from the Southern Rhône - Part 1),95-97 pts

Go to Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Vieilles Vignes

"Notes of strawberry and red cherry gain ripeness and power from nose to palate of this full-bodied, glossy blend of equal parts Grenache and Mourvèdre augmented by 10% Syrah. Matured 16 months in 55% new barriques, it's a potent, muscular wine peppered by anise and bitter almond and framed in coarse, fiery tannins. It should meld and open from 2022 and likely improve through 2030. - ANNA LEE C. IIJIMA"

 - Wine Enthusiast (February/March 2021), 94 pts, Cellar Selection

"A terrific effort, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes is a blend of 50% Grenache, 40% Mourvèdre and 10% Syrah. It's dense and rich almost beyond belief, packed with super ripe fruit that comes dangerously close to being chocolaty and fudge-like, yet it retains a sense of balance. Earth, spice and dark fruit notes linger for minutes on the long, tannic finish. Give it at least a couple of years in the cellar, and drink it over the next decade and a half. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. - Joe Czerwinski"

- Robert Parker's Wine Advocate (Issue 238, August 31st 2018), 97 pts

Go to Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Vieilles Vignes

"Crisp, sun-kissed cherry and wild-strawberry notes introduce this floral, perfumed wine. Made from predominantly old vines, it's intensely concentrated and forward in fruit yet shaded by hints of violet, lavender and bramble. This full-bodied, unctuous wine with fine, gripping tannins should improve through 2030 and hold further. - ANNA LEE C. IIJIMA"

- Wine Enthusiast (March 2019), 95 pts, Cellar Selection

Go to Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Vieilles Vignes

"Lurid violet. A highly complex bouquet evokes ripe red and blue fruits, incense, vanilla and exotic spices, and a floral accent builds steadily as the wine opens up. Sweet and expansive on the palate, offering deeply concentrated black raspberry, boysenberry, cola and spicecake flavors that are energized and given spine by a core of juicy acidity. Shows outstanding clarity and fruity thrust on a long, sweet finish framed by smooth tannins. - Josh Raynolds"

- Antonio Galloni's Vinous (July 2018), 93-95 pts

Go to Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Vieilles Vignes

"The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is up with the crème de la crème of the vintage and in the same league as the perfect 2010. Awesome notes of blackberries, crème de cassis, charred meats, licorice, and violets all soar from the glass. It's powerful, opulent, and structured, with building tannin, a huge mid-palate, and a blockbuster finish, yet it never loses its sense of purity and elegance. It's an incredible achievement from this estate. The blend is 45% Grenache, 45% Mourvèdre, and 10% Syrah, all aged in 55% new French oak.

There are few better run estates in the world than that of the Jaume Family’s Domaine Grand Veneur. Located in the northern part of Châteauneuf-du-Pape and run today by brothers Christophe and Sebastien Jaume, the estate produces a quasi-modern style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape (their Les Origins and Vieilles Vignes) as well as a growing number of negociant based wines from throughout the Southern Rhône. The 2017s whites are terrific across the board, and this vintage has produced charming, pure wines that are already drinking beautifully. The 2016 reds are some of the finest I’ve tasted from this estate."

- Jeb Dunnuck (August 2018, LE MILLÉSIME… The 2016s from the Southern Rhône - Part 1),100 pts

Go to Domaine Grand Veneur Chateauneuf du Pape Rouge Vieilles Vignes