Wine Advisor
Clos St Jean, Chateauneuf Du Pape Deus Ex Machina 2016
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Description
Tasting notes
Reviewed by: Joe Czerwinski
Bottled just four weeks prior to my visit, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Deus Ex Machina was showing no ill effects of the process. A blend of 60% Grenache with 40% Mourvèdre, it reveals intriguing notes of crushed stone, pencil shavings, black olives, tar and licorice on the nose. It's so massive and concentrated that it's almost painful to taste yet is seductive at the same time for its rich, velvety texture and incredible length. Somehow it manages all this but appears nimble and light at the same time, easily hiding what must be considerable alcohol.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Vivid bright-rimmed ruby. Exotic, highly perfumed aromas of red and blue fruit preserves, candied flowers, incense and Indian spices show outstanding definition and mineral lift. Fleshy, alluringly sweet and expansive in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated raspberry, cherry cola, lavender pastille and fruitcake flavors that show uncanny delicacy for their power. Smooth, spicy and penetrating on the impressively persistent finish, which is given shape by suave, slow-building, deftly interwoven tannins.
Reviewed by: Josh Raynolds
Deep bright-rimmed ruby. Primary dark berry liqueur, cherry, licorice and violet aromas are complemented by an exotic suggestion of smoky Indian spices. Broad and fleshy in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated blackberry, boysenberry and bitter cherry flavors along with sweet cola and floral pastille flourishes. Slowly becomes firmer with air and finishes with outstanding clarity, building tannins and strong, spicy persistence.
About the Producer
Clos Saint Jean is a family estate founded in 1900 by Edmund Tacussel. In 1910 he started to bottle wines with the name Clos Saint Jean. Since 1991 when the owner Guy Maurel died his two sons Pascal and Vincent have carried on at the property. The oenologist Philippe Gambie has since 2003 been assisting at the estate and something has happened: two-three famous special cuvées have merged and all the production became bottled at the domain.
