JEB DUNNUCK Top 100 Wines of 2025
Excited to have 2 wines on Jeb’s list this year:
#33 – 99 points
2022 Château Belair-Monange
The 2022 Château Belair-Monange comes from a mix of both the upper plateau and the hillsides just outside of Saint-Emilion, with the blend being 99% Merlot and 1% Cabernet Franc. It has a truly sensational perfume of black raspberries, mulled cherries, crushed stone, and graphite that gains intensity and nuances as it sits in the glass. This gives way to a full-bodied Saint-Emilion with a deep, layered texture, velvety tannins, no hard edges, and a gorgeous finish. I’d easily put this up with the crème de la crème of the vintage, and to my mind, it’s even better than the Château’s 2012, 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020. While it’s beautiful even today, I have no doubt this will evolve gracefully for 30 years if well stored.
#74 – 99 points
2024 Domaine De La Solitude Vin De La Solitude Blanc Chateauneuf Du Pape
An interesting blend of 50% Clairette, 20% each Roussanne and Grenache Blanc, and 10% other permitted varieties, the 2024 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vin De La Solitude Blanc was vinified and aged 10 months entirely in neutral barrels. Medium gold-hued, it shows Grand Cru white Burgundy-style reduction with ripe orchard fruits, toasted nuts, crushed stone, and floral nuances. It’s medium-bodied, has a pure, focused mouthfeel, bright yet fabulously integrated acidity, and a chiseled, layered, sensationally complex style. It’s the Coche-Dury of the Southern Rhône! With roughly 133 cases produced, give it 2-4 years and drink over the following two decades. Drink 2027-2047.
One of the oldest estates in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and run by the Lançon family, Domaine de la Solitude covers over 80 acres in the La Solitude lieu-dit on the western edge of La Crau in the center of the appellation. The wines are made by the talented Florent Lançon, and the terroir is a mix of galets roulés and sandy safre soils. The winemaking is quasi-modern, with some new oak and small barrels, and mostly 100% destemming. Interestingly, the blends for their cuvées are chosen blind and put together rather late, so this estate never shows barrel samples. The range includes the classic Châteauneuf-du-Pape (60% Grenache, 15% each Syrah and Mourvèdre, and 5% each Cinsault and Counoise), the more modern styled Barberini (60% Grenache, 25% Syrah, and 15% Mourvèdre from 100% galets roulés terroir,
aged with 60% new French oak), the 100% Grenache Cornelia Constanza from sandy safre soils in La Crau, and the relatively new Vin de la Solitude, always one of the most singular wines in a vintage with its complex blend as well as more whole cluster fermentation. The whites here are brilliant as well and deserve serious attention, with the Vin de la Solitude Blanc showing Grand Cru white Burgundy-style reduction and sensational complexity. As I wrote in the note, it’s the Coche-Dury of the Southern Rhône! I can’t recommend these wines enough and they certainly have a place in my personal cellar.
