Both The Advocate and Jeb Dunnuck both gave this wine a 95. This is a BIG CDP, opening with hints of mocha and toast, with a layer of heavily concentrated blackberry and plum. Spicy and silky with sexy minerality laced throughout and an extremely long, massively persistent finish. Drink it now or hold for another 10-15 years.
95-Points: The striking 2016 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvee Anonyme is 60% Grenache, 25% Mourvèdre and the rest minor varieties (there's no Syrah). Aged in a mix of foudres, demi-muids, barriques and concrete tanks, it shows hints of mocha and toast on the nose, but the blackberry and red plum fruit is mouthwatering and fresh, richly concentrated and spicy. Full-bodied, it manages to be ripe, silky and concentrated, while remaining crisp on the lengthy finish. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. - Wine Advocate
95+-Points: The 2016 Châteauneuf - du - Pape Cuvée Anonyme is the flagship and is mostly Grenache that was sourced from numerous terroirs throughout Châteauneuf - du - Pape and brought up in a mix of tank and barrels (some new). It offers a rocking bouquet of black raspberries, blueberries, lavender, Asian spices, and graphite. Like all of Xavier's 2016s, it has purity, freshness, and richness, yet still packs ample richness and depth. Give this full - bodied, elegant red another few years, and it will keep for a decade. - Jeb Dunnuck
Winemaking Notes from Vignon website: The exceptional quality of the 2016 vintage made sorting useless on most of the plots. Traditional vinification with a long maceration of nearly a month. Aging for more than 15 month, 25% in French oak barrels (Allier - Tronçais), 25% in wooden tun , 25% in half - casks, 25% in concrete tanks.
