2011 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Special

(100% grenache): Brilliant ruby-red. Ripe red fruits, spicecake, woodsmoke and pungent herbs on the intensely perfumed nose. Stains the palate with sappy raspberry and floral pastille flavors, picking up a bitter chocolate nuance on the back half. Clings with superb tenacity on the incisive finish, which shows lasting floral and spice notes.

Bright ruby. High-pitched aromas of raspberry and Asian spices are complemented by a subtle smoky quality and a hint of garrigue. Zesty and precise, with tangy red berry and bitter cherry flavors that show very good focus and pick up weight in the mid-palate. Closes on a gently tannic note, with lingering spice and mineral notes.

100% 100-year-old Grenache from sandy soils at the bottom of Le Crau. Late picked (early October) and whole bunch. Pale crimson. Full, sweet, very particular with a sort of cross between jewelly fruit and something almost metallic but very fresh – thanks to those stems? Rather beguiling and very different from the intense Châteauneuf norm. Sweet finish – something really very appetising about this. Sweet and fresh. Very energetic. (JR)