2012 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes

3,500 bottles. 100% Grenache, vines said to date from 1900 in the Charbonnière quartier plus a few vines in two other parcels in the south including Gallimard. Aged only in tank. Winemaker Sophie Armenier thinks she loses fruit in barrique. Very rich and sweet, pungent. Big and round with treacle toffee and a very slightly metallic edge. Hot end. More of a monument than a pleasure in a way. Quite a bit of acid and tannin. (JR)

Vivid ruby. Heady, expansive raspberry and boysenberry scents show superb clarity, with notes of incense and star anise emerging with air. Palate-staining red and dark berry flavors deepen and become sweeter with air while maintaining vibrancy. A smoky mineral quality adds definition and lift to the finish, which features silky tannins and an exotic touch of blood orange. This flamboyant wine checks in at 16% alcohol but I'd never have guessed it.

There are roughly 2,800 bottles of the 2012 Châteauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes to go around. Always a blend of 100% Grenache from three terroirs -- Charbonnière, Esquierons and Galimardes -- it is completely destemmed and aged all in stainless steel (there wasn't enough to fill a larger barrel). The wine possesses a perfumed, complex profile of black raspberry and blackberry-like fruit, spring flowers, licorice and damp herbs. This is followed by a full-bodied, voluptuously textured wine that has layers of sweet fruit, fine tannin and terrific length. It lacks the sheer depth and richness that’s found in top vintages of this cuvée (2006, 2007, 2010, among others), but should still have 10-15 years of longevity, and deliver loads of pleasure for all of it.