Vivid magenta. Seductive raspberry liqueur, exotic spice, potpourri and incense aromas, along with hints of musky rhubarb and smoky minerals. Juicy, seamless and energetic in style, offering densely packed red fruit, cherry cola, spicecake and floral pastille flavors that show superb delineation and spread out steadily as the wine opens up. Fine-grained, even tannins lend shape to a strikingly persistent, penetrating finish that shows intense red-fruit- and spice-driven tenacity. This wine is a standout of the vintage.

Made from 100% old vine Grenache sourced from the Charbonnière and Esquierons lieux-dit, the 2017 Châteauneuf Du Pape Vieilles Vignes showed brilliantly from tank last year, and it certainly didn't disappoint this go around. In the upper tier of the vintage, it offers a rock star bouquet of pure black raspberries, kirsch liqueur, garrigue, exotic flowers, and Asian spices. Full-bodied, concentrated, and incredibly seamless on the palate, it's one of those wines that carries an amazing amount of richness and depth yet magically stays light on its feet, elegant, and graceful. Grenache doesn't get much better. Give it 3-4 years and enjoy bottles over the following two decades of more.

From vines planted in 1900, the 2017 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes leads with aromas of cola, raspberries and dried spices. There's none of the chocolaty excess seen in the regular cuvée, but this full-bodied wine reflects the heat of the year in its slightly coarser than usual tannins. It's full-bodied without being heavy or overdone, just chewier than normal, and likely to age a bit quickly.