The 2018 Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Juline is a red proprietary blend from the Southern Rhone region of France, specifically the Chateauneuf du Pape appellation. This wine is produced by Paul Autard and is composed equally of Grenache and Syrah. It is aged in 100% new French oak barrels for 19 to 20 months before bottling.

Jeb Dunnuck awarded this wine a score of 95, praising its balance and purity. He remarked, “The tiny production 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Juline is an equal split of Grenache and Syrah that’s fermented and aged all in new French oak. While new oak could tend to overpower a more moderately concentrated vintage like 2018, this is nicely done and leads with beautiful black raspberry and cassis fruit as well as notes of toasted bread, vanilla bean, dried flowers, and a kiss of candied orange.” Dunnuck highlighted the wine’s full-bodied richness and silky tannins, predicting it will evolve well over the next 10-15 years.

Jeff Leve from TheWineCellarInsider.com gave the wine a score of 92, commenting on its modern style and robust profile. “With a good depth of color, the wine starts off with a strong note of oak, wet earth, spice and grilled meat,” he noted, adding that the wine is “big, rich, powerful and full-bodied, with a blast of fruit and oak on the palate.” Leve suggests that this wine will benefit from cellaring to allow its components to integrate fully.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate also rated the wine 92 points. The review described it as “inky in hue, with smoky nuances but better integration of oak than in the Cuvée la Cote Ronde.” The wine is noted for its intense, ripe black cherries, plums, and salted licorice flavors, with a particularly tannic structure that could use a couple of years to mellow.

Vinous provided a score of 94, with reviewer Josh Raynolds highlighting the wine’s deeply perfumed, oak-spiced aromas and palate-coating flavors of black raspberry, cherry-vanilla, and boysenberry. Raynolds described the finish as “extremely long and smoky, with solid, spicy thrust.”

Wine Spectator offered another excellent review, scoring the wine 95 points. The publication noted its “dark, winey style, with lots of fig, plum and blackberry paste flavors layered together, with sweet tobacco, licorice snap and warm earth accents.” The wine is described as packed yet defined, with a graphite spine through the finish and well-embedded acidity.

Overall, the 2018 Paul Autard Chateauneuf du Pape Juline is a powerful and richly flavored wine with a robust structure and significant aging potential.