Ratings & Tasting Notes:

99 points Peter Moser (Falstaff), April 2023

This review describes a deep crimson wine with aromas of black berry fruit, licorice, and dark nougat, noting a tight-knit, powerful palate with “enormous length and the potential for further ageing.”

97 points Jeb Dunnuck, November 2021

This review compares the wine to the celebrated 2011 vintage, describing a spicy, perfumed bouquet of red and black fruits with dried flowers and Provençal herbs, offering “a fabulous nose of cassis, blackcurrants, ground pepper” over ultra-fine, building tannins.

97 points Wine Spectator, February 2023

This review describes bitter plum, raspberry, and black cherry notes with a savory garrigue streak, noting the wine is “muscular and dense but the cut is there,” with tar, tobacco, and ganache on the finish.

Cult Wines International Notes:

Clos Saint-Jean is a 41-hectare estate in Châteauneuf-du-Pape run by brothers Vincent and Pascal Maurel, tracing its roots back to 1900 when it was founded by their great-great-grandfather, Edmund Tacussel. The estate has become widely regarded as a leading voice of the modern, richly extracted style of Châteauneuf-du-Pape winemaking, standing in contrast to the region’s more traditional producers. Deus-Ex Machina is one of the estate’s top cuvées, sourced primarily from the prized Le Crau lieu-dit and built from a Grenache-Mourvèdre blend aged partly in concrete and partly in new oak, giving it a more powerful, structured character than the estate’s entry-level bottling.

The 2020 growing season in Châteauneuf-du-Pape is widely regarded as an excellent, well-balanced vintage, following a wet winter that fully replenished the region’s water reserves after a dry 2019. A warm, dry spring brought early budburst and even flowering, and the growing season proceeded largely without major stress, aided by well-timed late-summer rain that refreshed the vines ahead of a clean, sunny harvest. The result is a vintage widely praised for combining real freshness and elegance with the region’s characteristic concentration — wines that critics note show unusual purity and balance without sacrificing structure or aging potential.

Bottle Size:

750 mL

Storage History:

Always stored on its side in a climate-controlled cellar.

Condition:

Please note: The bottle shown is the exact bottle being sold.

Outstanding condition.