2005 Chateauneuf du Pape La Reserve

60% Grenache, 20% Mourvèdre, 20% Syrah. Lieu-dit Les Bedines. Co-fermented in wooden vats, new demi muids and in concrete tanks, then aged for 18 months. 6,700 bottles produced. Very dark blackish crimson though without any blue notes. Substantial with sweet satin notes and some treacle. Lots of pleasure to be had. Although this is arguably slightly more in the 'international red' style than that of Châteauneuf. Still lots of life left in it. (JR)

Inky ruby. A spine-tingling bouquet offers fresh raspberry, cherry, anise, Asian spices and fresh lavender, with a sexy undercurrent of minerals. Overwhelms the palate with sweet red and dark berry preserve flavors, gaining depth and ripeness with air. Supple, sappy and crammed with juicy fruit, this needs to be served by the dose, not the glass. But there's no heaviness about it. Wild, singular and supremely alluring stuff. There are 6,100 bottles of this.

Inky violet. Explosive aromas of blackberry, raspberry, kirsch, lavender pastille and sexy Asian spices show a room-filling pungency. Then remarkably concentrated on the palate, offering an awe-inducing display of red and dark berry flavors, velvety texture and spicy minerality. This is almost overwhelming in its fruit flavors and shows breathtaking persistence through the ripely tannic finish. Stupefying and utterly hypnotic.