97 points Wine Enthusiast
Outer quote mark The flagship wine of de Nalys sourced from the famed La Crau vineyard, this powerful, complex red highlights Grenache augmented by Syrah, Mourvèdre, Counoise and Vacarèse. Matured partially in oak, it offers black-plum flavors muted by shades of earth, sun-scorched garrigue and a lingering vein of salty minerality. While soft in tannin, the wine needs time to tease out its smoky, stony nuances. *Cellar Selection* (AI) Inner quote mark (10/2021)
95 points Wine & Spirits
Outer quote mark This is the first vintage of Nalys that Philippe Guigal saw through from budbreak to bottling, after having purchased the estate in July 2017. He blends it from all the estate’s vineyards—the sandstone-clay of Nalys; the high, sandy, alluvial plateau of Bois Sénéchal; and the galet-covered La Crau, which makes up 50 percent of this blend. Fermented in oak vats, then aged 18 months in oak (30 percent) and concrete, it’s a regal, elegant Châteauneuf, plush in texture and alluring in its scents of wood, berries and earth. The interplay of tart and sweet fruit gives the wine lift and movement and echoes the dichotomy of brisk acidity and firm tannins. You could decant this now, enjoying its fresh elegance with a steak dinner, or wait another decade to see what details time will bring. Inner quote mark (10/2021)
95 points Wine Spectator
Outer quote mark A bright savory note leads off this red, followed quickly by sanguine and bay leaf accents, all melding nicely with the core of steeped blackberry, raspberry and plum fruit flavors as they move through the rich, licorice root–tinged finish. *Ranked #10, Top 100 Wines of 2021, Highly Recommended* (JM) Inner quote mark (10/2021)
93-95 points Jeb Dunnuck
Outer quote mark Both deeper and more concentrated, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape showed beautifully and is certainly starting to display the quality of this terroir. Deep blue fruits, ground pepper, sweet flowers, and incense notes all emerge from this full-bodied, rounded, concentrated barrel sample. It has the supple, sweet tannins of the vintage as well as a stacked mid-palate and terrific overall balance. Inner quote mark (8/2019)
94 points Vinous
Outer quote mark Deep ruby. Red and blue fruit, garrigue, pungent floral and exotic spice aromas show fine definition and mineral lift. Juicy black raspberry, boysenberry and candied lavender flavors deepen through the back half, with no loss of energy. Closes with emphatic, spicy thrust on the penetrating finish, which features even tannins and resonating floral and blue fruit notes. (JR) Inner quote mark (10/2021)
93 points Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Outer quote mark The full-bodied 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Grand Vin delivers plenty of bold raspberry and blueberry notes. It's almost creamy across the mid-palate but turns a bit more open-knit and coarser-textured on the lingering finish. Still, it's a delicious effort, well worth drinking over the next 10–15 years. While I only drove past the winery and through some of the estate's vineyards while in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, I tasted the wines while visiting the Guigal cellars in Ampuis. Note that the 2018 Chateauneuf du Pape Grand Vin Blanc was substantially similar to my previous review (94 points, August 2019), so I haven't rereviewed it here. Now that the Guigal team has renovated the cellars and has had full control of the vineyards for a few years, the quality at this estate has improved substantially. (JC) Inner quote mark (5/2022)