Clos Saint-Jean Châteauneuf-du-Pape Deus-Ex Machina 2020

99 points Peter Moser (Falstaff): "Deep crimson in colour with purple reflections and a broad and bright ochre rim. On the nose, aromas of black berry fruit, hints of liquorice and dark nougat, subtle tar and truffle nuances. The powerful, complex palate is tight-knit with ripe supporting tannins, notes of ripe plum and a hint of fig underpinned by saline minerality. This wine has enormous length and the potential for further ageing. (4/20/23)"

97 points Jeb Dunnuck: "A much more powerful wine based on 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre, the 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Deus-Ex Machina reminds me slightly of the 2011 with its spicy, perfumed, complex bouquet of red and black fruits, dried flowers, pepper, and Provençal herbs, with more gamey, meaty notes emerging with time in the glass. Full-bodied on the palate, it's balanced, has ultra-fine yet building tannins, no hard edges, and a great finish. It needs a solid 4-5 years of bottle age and should have 20+ of overall longevity. Drink: 2026-2048. (11/3/21)"

97 points Wine Spectator: "[$176 list] Boasts bitter plum, raspberry and black cherry reduction notes that have a lively savory, garrigue streak, while grippy-edged tar, tobacco and ganache notes pepper the finish. Muscular and dense but the cut is there, and the fruit core takes a late encore for good measure. Grenache and Mourvèdre. Best from 2025 through 2040. 500 cases made, 56 cases imported. (2022)"

**** John Livingstone-Learmonth (DrinkRhone.com): "(from La Crau, 60% 1905 Grenache on the red clay part of it, 40% Mourvèdre (1984), destemmed, vat-emptying, part refilling, cap punching on Syrah, 35-38 day vinification, aged 60% vat (Grenache), 40% 1-3 year 228-litre oak casks (Mourvèdre) 12-15 months, unfined, unfiltered, first year 2003, 'it demands patience – 6 to 8 years, and drink with dishes with complexity and strong personality - hare, wild boar, game stews', 6,000 b). full red robe; this has a bouncy, live, go-go nose supplemented by oak, a deep inset of black cherries, a hint of damp, pine. The palate is broad, abundant, slightly stoked up, emphasizes some oak. It digs in deeply, has attitude, a strong structure – you have to very much wait for this. It finishes on this tarred insistence, comes with probing depth, the tannins having life, vigour. 'The oak will drop,' Vincent Maurel. Bottled 25 March 2022. From 2027 'to allow the oak to drop,' Vincent Maurel. 2047-49. May 2022."