A complex nose of dark cherries, damson plums, dried spices, dried thyme, leather, some bark and undergrowth as well. Full body with great volume. Structured and balanced with a creamy core of berries and hints of dark chocolate. Fine texture with plenty of spicy character on the palate. It’s complex and savory with leather and profound aromas developing towards the finish. Still a bit firm at this stage with a brain-rattling finish that almost knocks you off your chair! Majority grenache (70%), 7% syrah, 3% mourvedre and 20% of the other 13 grapes. Better after 2026.

Lastly, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Da Capo is a bigger, richer wine, as well as a more youthful, focused, behemoth of a 2020. Powerful notes of ripe black cherries, darker currants, ground pepper, charcuterie, and flower incense are just some of the notions here, and it's full-bodied, with a concentrated, opulent mouthfeel, ripe tannins, and a great finish. It doesn't match the all-time greats of this estate, but it’s a more approachable, opulent, undeniable sexy, Provençal Da Cape that's impossible not to love.

The first vintage since 2016 is dark ruby in color. With a nose packed with spice, dark red fruits, thyme, espresso and spice. This is the most powerful wine of the vintage, yet everything is in balance and harmony with its seamless layers of deep dark red fruits, pepper and black cherries. Bottling took place in December, 2022. Drink from 2028-2050. Read more at:https://www.thewinecellarinsider.com/wine-tasting-note/?vintage=2020&wine=Domaine%20du%20Pegau%20Chateauneuf-du-Pape%20Cuvee%20da%20Capo

(97+ points) The 2020 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée da Capo is a massively concentrated effort that should ultimately rival the great 2016. The blackberries and blueberries are so vibrant and intense that the wine almost seems sweet, packed with ripe fruit, with hints of mocha and garrigue for savory complexity. Full-bodied, rich and velvety in texture, it finishes with tremendous length and presence. - Joe Czerwinski

Two thousand twenty marks the eighth time that Laurence Féraud has chosen to vinify a Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Da Capo, which made its debut in the 1998 vintage. A vineyard selection from parcels in La Crau, Escondudes and Monpertuis, all harvested a little bit later than the grapes destined to go into the Cuvée Réservée, this year’s blend is 70% Grenache, 7% Syrah, 3% Mourvèdre and the rest split among other permitted varieties. Aged in foudre for two years and achieving 15.8% alcohol, it soars from the glass with expressive aromas of dried rose petals, slightly cooked red and black fruits, licorice, dried herbs, tobacco, cured meat and white pepper. Full-bodied, concentrated and built like a brick wall, it will reward bottle age. -- Nicolas Greinacher

Bottled only in vintages the Férauds consider exceptional, and while this wine is marked by the heat of 2020, its damson plum flavors are intense and concentrated. One might say sunbaked, though it’s far from pruney, with a scrubby garrigue lift and funky complexity playing behind it. That layered savor is magnetic, slowly pulling you deeper into the wine. It fermented spontaneously with whole bunches, macerating in concrete tank for twelve days before going into large, old oak casks. That elevage has given the wine a solid foundation under the intense fruit—it’s classically powerful stuff, a wine whose pedigree shows through the warmth of the 2020 vintage. —C.W.

Charming, old world character to this brawny, super concentrated red. This smolders with mocha, black fruit and charred earth tinged with high-toned lavender, menthol and firming spine of iron. Slightly rustic in feel, with burly tannins keep this tightly wound, through the dense finish, which stretches out, dark and smoky. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2040. — K.B.