2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Special Vieilles Vignes

(100% grenache from La Crau) Opaque ruby. Highly perfumed bouquet of red and dark berry preserves, flowers, fruit pit and sassafras. Sweet, palate-staining black raspberry and mulberry flavors are framed by velvety tannins and become spicier and more energetic on the back end. Big and gripping but surprisingly graceful wine with very good finishing lift and precision. This saw no new oak.

Glass-staining ruby. Extremely sexy aromas of dark berries and kirsch, with anise and candied flowers adding complexity. Powerful black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors coat the palate, picking up lavender pastille and apricot notes with air. Lush, creamy and seamless, with excellent finishing sweetness and thrust.

A 100% Grenache cuvee from the sandy soils of a 106-year-old, biodynamically farmed La Crau vineyard, and aged in both foudre and tank, the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Speciale is amazing. Abundant notes of melted licorice, kirsch liqueur, and flowers is followed by a full-bodied, seamlessly constructed wine with sensational purity, texture, depth, and length. The bad news is there are only 2,000 bottles. This 2007 should drink well for two decades or more. Michel Tardieu, assisted by the brilliant oenologist, Philippe Cambie, has fashioned gorgeous low-end Cotes du Rhones that merit serious attention. Importer: Wilson-Daniels, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-9661