Vieux Telegraphe Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau Blanc 2020 (1.5L)

96 JD / 95 WS / 95 JS / 94 DE / 93 WA

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc is showing even better today than when I tasted it last year. Pear, stone fruits, and crushed stone as well as a kiss of black licorice emerge on the nose, and it's medium to full-bodied, with a great mid-palate, flawless balance, and a wonderful sense of freshness and purity. Give bottles another year or two, count yourself lucky, and enjoy over the following 15+ years. 11/22.--Jeb Dunnuck

Well-built, with a steady intensity to the waves of white peach, star fruit, acacia, honeysuckle and mirabelle plum. Delivers flashes of lemon shortbread and quinine through the finish, giving it both plump and racy elements. This is hard to lay off now, but it has some development ahead of it. Clairette, Grenache Blanc, Bourboulenc and Roussanne. Drink now through 2030. - JM, Wine Spectator

Plenty of fresh-nut character, plus notes of bread dough and candied lemon on the enticing nose. Rich and creamy palate, the underlining stony character complementing this very neatly. Long and complete finish with serious textural and mineral complexity. From the Domaine du Vieux Télégraph stable. Drink or hold. - James Suckling

A much broader, riper aromatic profile than its Clos la Roquète. White flowers, citrus oils, rich and ripe pear. Full-bodied, broad and unctuous, it's precise both aromatically and in texture; a perfectly balanced Vieux Télégraphe blanc for early drinking - longevity is hard to predict at this stage. All from La Crau. Mostly aged in foudres and demi-muids, plus a few barriques, two of which were new this year. Drinking Window 2022 - 2034 - Matt Walls, Decanter

The 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Blanc is more tight and backward, with medium-bodied aromas and flavors of pear, white flowers, licorice, and crushed stone. Nicely concentrated and balanced, it’s going to benefit from 3-5 years of bottle age and keep for two decades. It’s a classic, age-worthy, regal white from this estate. - Jeb Dunnuck

Coming from a single parcel of 50- to 55-year-old vines in la Crau, Vieux Telegraph's 2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Blanc is a blend of roughly 45% Clairette and 30% Grenache Blanc, with the balance split equally between Roussanne and Bourboulenc. Two-thirds were matured in foudre, with the other third matured in demi-muids, leading to a slightly honeyed nose with hints of toasted grain and gently warmed pineapple. It's full-bodied and creamy, balanced by a hint of bitterness on the long finish. - JC, Wine Advocate