Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2022: Report and top-scoring wines
Châteauneuf-du-Pape was the best-performing appellation in 2022, producing a host of high-scoring wines, many of which are powerful and will age for a long time to come.
Antoine Daumen of Domaine de la Vieille Julienne was unsure about the season as it progressed. ‘We were cautious to begin with, we had low expectations,’ he says, ‘but the old vines were still very healthy at the end despite the dryness.’ He was pleased with the domaine’s wines in 2022 – they have silky tannins, moderate alcohol and good acidity.
Châteauneuf rode out the challenges of 2022 better than any other appellation this year, and unpleasantly green tannins are relatively rare.
Scroll down to see tasting notes and scores for the top Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2022 wines
‘The lower the yield, the easier it is for the vine to adapt,’ says Antoine’s father Jean-Paul Daumen. They averaged 22hl/ha (the authorised maximum is 35hl/ha).
It was the same figure at Château de Beaucastel, where César Perrin agrees on the importance of old vines. ‘Our job with global warming is to keep the old vineyards,’ he says, and thinks there are two styles of wine this year: juicy wines from young vines for drinking within five years, and more powerful wines from old vines for drinking after 15. He compares 2022 to 2005 – a good but tannic year that took a long time to come round.
See all 400 Rhône 2022 tasting notes and scores
All the growers I spoke to agreed on the importance of the rain that fell throughout the region on 14 August, which helped to swell the berries with juice and unlock some vines whose ripening had stalled. For many, it saved the vintage.
For certain producers to the far east of the appellation, however, the storm had the opposite effect. Nicolas Brunier of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe clearly remembers that day. ‘We got a call saying there’s a storm coming,’ he recalls. But here instead of rain it brought hail. ‘Thirty minutes later and there’s nothing left… no more leaves, no more grapes, nothing – a catastrophe.’
It’s the first year in the domaine’s history that no red or white Vieux Télégraphe was made. There is some weather that even old vines can’t withstand.
See the Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines
Southern Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines
Northern Rhône 2022 full vintage report and top-scoring wines
Key Châteauneuf-du-Pape producers in 2022
- Château de Beaucastel
- Château Rayas
- Domaine de Cristia
- Domaine de la Janasse
- Domaine de la Mordorée
Best value Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines in 2022
- Château La Nerthe, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Blanc 2022
- Château Mont-Thabor, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2022
- Clos du Calvaire, Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2022
Rhône 2022 score tables:
All top Rhône 2022 score table
Top-scoring southern Rhône 2022
Top-scoring northern Rhône 2022
Top-scoring Rhône 2022 red wines
Top-scoring Rhône 2022 white wines
Individual appellation analysis on:
Gigondas, Vacqueyras & Beaumes de Venise | Rasteau, Cairanne & Vinsobres | Lirac & Tavel
Matt Walls’ top-scoring Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2022 wines:
The wines below all scored 95 points or above, and are listed white then red in score order.
Related articles
- Walls: 26 value Châteauneuf-du-Pape wines to try
- Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2019 & 2009: panel tasting results
- Expert’s Choice: White Châteauneuf-du-Pape
Clos des Papes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Open and inviting aromas of dried pears, almost slightly hoppy. This is full-bodied and rich, but with good acidity thanks to the Bourboulenc and Piquepoul...
2022
Clos des PapesChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de Beaurenard, Boisrenard, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
On a higher level to the domaine’s Tradition cuvée this year, this has really fresh and lively aromatics and a delightfully vibrant palate. The star...
2022
Domaine de BeaurenardChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Solitude, Vin de la Solitude Blanc, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Restrained aromatics lead to a full-bodied palate with great textural wealth. Not as obviously oaky as the domaine’s other cuvées (though it is certainly generously...
2022
Domaine de la SolitudeChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château de Beaucastel, Roussanne Vieilles Vignes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Richer, more honeyed than the 2023 on the nose. Generous and full-bodied, with low acidity and more noticeable noble bitter notes than the 2023. The...
2022
Château de BeaucastelChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château Rayas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Aromas of confit pear, honeysuckle and almond announce a very rich style, massive, mouthfilling, with rich alcohol and enough freshness to bring it all together....
2022
Château RayasChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine Chante Cigale, Extrait, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
A touch smoky, flinty, this is tight and tense on the palate, dry and savoury. It's really quite focused, never overly fat, with a long,...
2022
Domaine Chante CigaleChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Solitude, Barberini, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
There's noticeable struck match reduction on the nose, which works its way through into the finish. The oak work is robust and toasty, but somehow...
2022
Domaine de la SolitudeChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château de Beaucastel, Hommage à Jacques Perrin, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Notes of cooked blueberries and liquorice on the nose. This has great palate weight and density, it’s so savoury. The tannins are really searching, and...
2022
Château de BeaucastelChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de Cristia, Chapelle Saint Théodoric La Guigasse, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Herbal notes flow throughout the juicy strawberry fruit. The alcohol is present but it doesn't feel excessive, the balance is good. It’s exceptionally long indeed,...
2022
Domaine de CristiaChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Janasse, Vieilles Vignes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Full, lush and powerful, with a wall of intense tannin – this is an enormously powerful wine that will take many years to approach a...
2022
Domaine de la JanasseChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Janasse, Chaupin, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Rich black cherry and strawberry fruit, with impressive density and palate weight. The balance is good, with fur-coat tannins and admirable freshness. Yet again, this...
2022
Domaine de la JanasseChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Mordorée, La Reine des Bois, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Huge and powerful, but so fresh. This has great driving intensity, with even bigger, more structural tannins than the domaine’s other cuvée. A rampaging Châteauneuf...
2022
Domaine de la MordoréeChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château Rayas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Instead of maturing the three main parcels separately in 2022, all were assembled and matured together. Red and black cherry aromas and Turkish delight, then...
2022
Château RayasChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de Cristia, Les Sablons, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Full and juicy, with a slake of cooling glycerol that's cut through with bright raspberry acidity. The alcohol is quite raised here – it is...
2022
Domaine de CristiaChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, Réservé, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Blackberry jam flavours, but still powerful and fresh. Crushed strawberries too, and crushed bay leaves. It’s full-bodied and powerful, with remarkably driving acidity. The finish...
2022
Domaine de la Vieille JulienneChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Le Clos du Caillou, La Réserve, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Very full but not overly bulbous, with a big tannic base from the ripe Mourvèdre. Powerful, this has serious impact and intensity, it's long and...
2022
Le Clos du CaillouChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château de Beaucastel, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
<p>Dark and inky in colour this year. It’s fresh in its berry fruits, really quite powerful, with muscular tannins and driving acidity behind. A dense,...
2022
Château de BeaucastelChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château Rayas, Pignan, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Vibrant strawberry notes to the Grenache here, it’s very alive. Rounded and generous, fresh, with only moderate alcohol this year. A touch of greenness to...
2022
Château RayasChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Clos des Papes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
A touch less Mourvèdre this year, but not enough to change the profile of the wine, which is fairly classic albeit pretty bombastic in 2022....
2022
Clos des PapesChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de Cristia, Renaissance, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Wow, what a nose! Leaf tea, menthol and pine resin, a really captivating and complex display. Dense and intensely solid, with fine, bold tannins. The...
2022
Domaine de CristiaChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de Cristia, Chapelle Saint Théodoric Le Grand Pin, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Relatively pale in the glass. Pine needles and rosemary, very much a garrigue herb inflected nose. Broad and mouthfilling, generous and juicy, with rich strawberry...
2022
Domaine de CristiaChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Alain Jaume & Fils, Les Origines, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
The powerful, gutsy Mourvèdre element is very much in evidence, bringing a solid base and firmness of body to the core of the wine. It's...
2022
Alain Jaume & FilsChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Clos du Calvaire, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Provençal herbs and leaf tea on the nose, Turkish delight too. Full-bodied, smooth and plump. It's robust but generous, with plentiful ripe tannins; acidity isn't...
2022
Clos du CalvaireChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de Cristia, Vieilles Vignes, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
This is ripe for sure, but not overripe, and the oak is sensitively applied, giving some shape and focus to the wine. The alcohol is...
2022
Domaine de CristiaChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Mordorée, La Dame Voyageuse, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Big, juicy, bold and powerful. Really driving, chunky, mouthfilling fruit and tannin. It’s long, broad and expansive, a huge wine for those that enjoy massive...
2022
Domaine de la MordoréeChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, Les Hauts Lieux, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Very ripe, and if anything even fresher than Les Trois Sources this year. Great finesse of tannin, and a really solid base for long ageing....
2022
Domaine de la Vieille JulienneChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine Olivier Hillaire, Les Petits Pieds d'Armand, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
A more concentrated, deeper, fuller style than the domaine’s Tradition cuvée, with inner sucrosité to the strawberry and damson fruit. It's matched by good acidity...
2022
Domaine Olivier HillaireChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine Olivier Hillaire, Les Terrasses, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Darker in colour than the domaine’s other cuvées this year. Sage, raspberry and crushed strawberry aromas, open and enjoyable already. Full-bodied, more generous and expansive...
2022
Domaine Olivier HillaireChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Domaine Santa Duc, La Crau Ouest, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Pure Grenache, over 100 years old, on sandstone. Gorgeous strawberry notes on the nose. A delicate, fine, beautiful style. The acidity is balanced with fine...
2022
Domaine Santa DucChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Le Clos du Caillou, Les Quartz, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Dark in colour, this has intriguing herbal depths. Not massive, but it has an enjoyably compact frame, no lack of concentration, and serious intensity leading...
2022
Le Clos du CaillouChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Le Vieux Donjon, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Rhône, France, 2022
Enjoyably fresh and fluid style, good acidity, with lip-smacking raspberry and strawberry fruit. Good feeling of lift and drinkability considering the extreme vintage conditions. Elegant,...
2022
Le Vieux DonjonChâteauneuf-du-Pape
Château de Fonsalette, Côtes du Rhône, Rhône, France, 2022
Honeysuckle and Williams pear, really full-bodied, silky and opulent this year. The richness is countered by gentle acids and mineral notes. Fresh and balanced, very...
2022
Château de FonsaletteCôtes du Rhône
Château de Fonsalette, Cuvée Syrah, Côtes du Rhône, Rhône, France, 2022
Two parcels, distinctly different. The first is grown on galets, clay and sand and has an intensely spicy profile – cardamom and cocoa nibs –...
2022
Château de FonsaletteCôtes du Rhône
Château de Fonsalette, Côtes du Rhône, Rhône, France, 2022
A tasting of the component varieties suggests that despite the extreme vintage conditions this is looking like a beautifully floral expression, with cherry blossom and...
2022
Château de FonsaletteCôtes du Rhône
