2018 Cotes du Rhone Lieu-Dit Clavin

The 2018 Côtes du Rhône Lieu-Dit Clavin is a beauty and certainly plays in the realm of a rock-solid Châteauneuf in this vintage. Revealing a deeper ruby/purple color as well as a beautiful bouquet of black cherries, black licorice, peppery garrigue, and a touch of earthy minerality, it hits the palate with medium-bodied richness, a beautifully layered, seamless texture, no hard edges, and a great finish. It certainly has some classic Vielle Julienne character, and I would be thrilled to have bottles in the cellar. It’s going to evolve nicely for 10-12 years. While 2018 seemed to favor those with more clay soil, you’d never know that from tasting the wines from Jean-Paul Daumen, and his 2018s are unquestionably some of the finest in the vintage. The shocker was how well the Les Hauts-Lieux performed, and it’s a heavenly bottle of wine that’s every bit as good as the Reserve, although it shows a more mineral-laced, masculine style. As I’ve written in the past, there are few wines I’d rather drink than those of Vieille Julienne.