2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Sixtine, Cuvee du Vatican

Drank over 3 days. Just a beautiful wine and actually, the 2000 Cuvée du Vatican Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve Sixtine is very similar to a toned down 2003 reserve Sixtine (which I'm a huge fan of as well.) This shows a dark ruby red, almost opaque color and a stunning, perfumed nose of raspberry and cassis fruit that's backed up by vanilla, wax, smoke and raw meat notes. Shows both red and black fruit notes and with air, this picks up a lovely spice and cedar layer but it's the wax and raw meat notes that really give this wine a distinctive quality. The palate is medium to full bodied, structured and powerful but also balanced and beautifully textured with concentrated fruit and a long finish. This shows some subtle tannins on the finish and changed very little over the three days and probably showed the best on the third day. Just a great, very unique wine and worth seeking out.