2018 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne Châteauneuf-du-Pape les Trois Sources

True to form, the 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Trois Sources is a softer, more elegant wine than the Les Hauts-Lieux and offers a gorgeous perfume of black cherries, black licorice, tapenade, violets, herbes de Provence, and jus de viande. Deep, full-bodied, and beautifully layered, it gains weight with time in the glass and is going to benefit from just short-term cellaring. It doesn’t have the concentration for any long-term cellaring yet my money is on it evolving nicely for a solid 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.

Tank sample. Extraordinary blueberry fruit – really juicy and delicious. Super-floral too, really expressive and opulent. A great triumph in this vintage, one of the purest and most delicious expressions of Grenache, with firmness but mouth-watering juiciness as well. It's a drinkable, upfront style and the complexity will take time to emerge. (RH)