Château Maucoil Châteauneuf-du-Pape Esprit Red Magnum 2013 ~ Southern Rhone, France

93/100 Wine Spectator 
90/100 Robert Parker
90/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider
15/20 Bettane et Desseauve
92/100 Robert Parker (2012 vintage) (2012 vintage)
91/100 Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider (2012 vintage)
91/100 Wine Enthusaist (2012 vintage)
17/20 Jancis Robinson (2012 vintage)
15/20 Bettane et Desseauve (2012 vintage)

1 Stars - Guide Hachette des Vins 2017

Magnum

Organic

Robert Parker "My favorite of the three recently bottled releases was the 2013 Châteauneuf du Pape Esprit de Maucoil. Medium plus-bodied, nicely concentrated and showing the firmer, slightly austere style of the vintage, it offers up outstanding notes of cassis, caramelized black cherries, crushed violets and sweet oak. It has solid purity of fruit and will benefit from a year or two in bottle."

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider "All the new oak has faded into the wine allowing the fresh, spicy, kirsch notes and round textures to shine through. The wine was made from a blend of 50% Grenache, 15% Syrah, 12% Mourvedre and 8% Cinsault."

Guide Hachette des Vins 2017 "True to tradition, this cuvée blends the thirteen grape varieties of the appellation. The result is very convincing: intense and complex nose of jammy red and black fruits, spices and liquorice; Ample, dense, rich and long mouth, supported by fine tannins for laying down and a well-dosed woodiness, which lets the fruit breathe. Building for the cellar."

Robert Parker "...offers the deepest color, as well as another level of richness and concentration. Showing the vintage's forward, supple and easygoing style, it has fabulous cassis, sweet blackberry jam, licorice and spiced-meat qualities to go with a voluptuously styled profile on the palate. This beauty is all about the fruit, yet stays nicely Provençal and has lots to love." (2012 vintage)

Jeff Leve, The Wine Cellar Insider "Silky, fleshy, sweet and long, there is a nice quality to the melange of kirsch and dark red berries in the wine." (2012 vintage)

Wine Enthusiast "From the oldest vines of the estate, this is a lush, luscious wine. Vanilla and cedar notes complement bold cherry fruit, while hints of cinnamon, clove and allspice lend nuance." (2012 vintage)

Jancis Robinson 'Vineyard soil: galets. 12 months in barrique.... fine tannins and ripe fruit underneath. Blackberry compote notes.' (2012 vintage)

Château Maucoil has been under the care of several different illustrious wine growing families over the centuries, but it is now owned and managed by the talented winemakers Frederic and Benoit Lavau. With the consulting advice of famed French winemaker Stephane Derenoncourt, the Lavau brothers have been making stellar and highly awarded wines and today are one of the few producers to continue to cultivate all 13 permitted grape varieties permitted by the Châteauneuf-du-Pape regulations.

Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a historic village between the towns of Orange and Avignon, in France's southern Rhône Valley. It is famous for powerful, full-bodied red wines made predominantly from the classic southern Rhône grape trio: Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. These three varieties are behind the vast majority of the appellation's red wines, although a total of eighteen are approved for use – a mix of red and white grape varieties.

A Southern Rhône Red Blend refers to a wide range of grape varieties blended together in the southern reaches of the Rhône Valley of southern France. While the blend could theoretically consist of any of a wide range of grape varieties, it is usually made up of Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre, in varying proportions, typically with Grenache and Syrah as the dominant partners.