2015 Chateauneuf du Pape

(made with 50 percent whole clusters) Bright ruby-red. Intensely perfumed raspberry and cherry liqueur scents, accompanied by potpourri and Asian spice nuances and a smoky mineral nuance that builds in the glass. Juicy and appealingly sweet, displaying lively red fruit and floral pastille flavors and a supple, seamless texture. Smoothly balances richness and vivacity and shows an attractive light touch. Finishes long and minerally, with smooth, harmonious tannins and a subtle echo of candied flowers.

70% Grenache (60-80 years old), 25% Syrah (40 years old), 5% Cinsault (60 to 80 years old). Les Bedines, La Crau on big rounded pebbles, Les Gardioles, Coste Froide. Half whole bunch, aged in one-year-old barrels. (Whatever do they do with their new ones?!) Dark ruby with a pale rim. Broad and warm, quite evolved, on the nose. Approachable already in a rose-petal sort of wine! Very new-wave Grenache – the Pinot side of the grape. Very charming. This won’t be released until autumn 2017 but I could drink it this evening, even though there is no shortage of very fine tannins on the end. (JR)