Domaine Auguste Clape Côtes-du-Rhône 2022

91 Points Jeb Dunnuck

The 2022 Côtes Du Rhône is clearly better, with a more medium to full-bodied, round, textured style. It's a classy, old-school effort (the abv is 11.5%) that has some gamey blue fruits and mulberry nuances, plenty of peppery, violet notes, ripe tannins, and a great finish. I was thrilled to be able to retaste the 2020s during my visit with Pierre-Marie Clape, and it’s safe to say I underrated these last year. They’ve have morphed into heavenly wines that are unquestionably in the same league as the estate 2010s, 2018s, and 2019s. The 2021s here have pure, classic, old school-like profiles with more moderate concentration and depth, but good balance as well as length. Harkening back to wines from the 1980s, they’re already approachable yet should have 10-15 years of interesting drinking.