Châteauneuf-du-Pape

What a killer white wine.  This was even better than the 2016 and 2013.  Deep golden in color.  The nose has smoke, lemons, floral notes and white peaches.  On the palate, this is full bodied with a zesty acidity.  There is a lemon cream quality to it not too unlike a nice Chard but also peaches with underlying minerals.  This is a big wine but with enough energy to pull it off.  It does have a bit of an acidic bite on the finish right now.  It is delicious and worked great with a pea.

Ruby in color, purple at the core.  The nose is slightly earthy with cherries, garrique and charred wood.  On the palate, this has nice cherry fruit with layers of forest floor and damp earth.  Nice acidity.  Seems to be at peak, depending how you like your wines.  Nice finish.  This will work great with roasts.  It probably needs to be drunk in the next five years or so.  

This was a bit of a controversial wine on release due to the hot vintage and the extracted nature of the wine.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose has black cherries, spice, and slight earthiness.  On the palate, this has calmed down since release.  There are nice black cherries, but it is not hot or over ripe.  Plenty of depth.  It has settled into adulthood quite well.  Layers of fruit, earth and spice.  Nice finish.  It works well with grilled peppers or probably most grilled foods.  It won't get better and probably should be drunk in the next five to seven years, perhaps a few

Whoa.  I thought this would be good, but this exceeded my expectations.  From the first sip it just kept getting better, and the first sip was very good too.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is very pretty with black cherries, spice.

This is a big wine, but it was surprising how well it is drinking now.  Purple in color.  Plums, black cherries, spice, slight floral all make up an enticing nose.  On the palate, this has a lush but crisp texture.  Plenty of juicy fruit; plums black cherries and even some black raspberries intertwined with spices and charcoal over a slight earthiness.  Good energy.  Long finish.  This seems so good today, it doesn't appear that it will get better but will certainly change as it matures.  It will go great with casseroles and stews as well as burgers and steaks.  It has another five to seven

A fine showing for this wine.  At age 18, it is drinking well with plenty of time left.  This bottle was decanted for sediment and served.  It could have used an hour in the decanter or more to really open.  The last glass was the best.  Deeper ruby in color, mostly opaque.  The nose is clean for the most part.  Cherries, raspberries, some earthiness and nice minerality on the nose.  On the palate, this is medium to full bodied.  Plenty of depth with nice layering in the glass.  A lot of fruit left; cherries and raspberries and some black raspberries, over a dry earthy quality.  This bottle

This was given an hour in the decanter after decanting for sediment.  Purple/ruby in color.  This took a long time to come around.  In fact, we gave it another hour and then it finally started to open (2 hours total).  The nose is clean with raspberries, garrigue, and black licorice.  What a wonderful texture.  Silky yet plush and almost seamless.  Showing a bit of age, but then with more air it revived even further.  Lots of black and red raspberries, black cherries, lavender and spice.  Deep and tightly layered.  Long finish.  The proverbial last glass was the best.  This bottle was bough

This is still quite young and patience will be rewarded.  That said, if you have a few or like them young, then this is great now too.  This bottle was decanted for four hours prior to drinking.  Inky purple in color.  The nose is black raspberries, charred wood, pepper, spice but also a lovely little lavender.  On the palate, this is big.  Brooding but still shows black raspberries, blueberries, black pepper and slight charred earth.  Medium tannins.  A nice streak of acidity.  Long finish.  This wine begs for food.  Cassoulet, steak or roasted vegetables would be great.  Probably another

2016 is a stellar year in Chateauneuf du Pape and the southern Rhone Valley.  While this wine has years left in it, it was wonderful to drink now.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is great.  Clean with black cherries, dust, spice and slight lavender notes.  On the palate, this has a wonderful texture.  Juicy black cherry fruit.  An underlying minerality.  Lots of depth.  Good finish.  It is a big wine at the moment, but will no doubt mellow and gain in complexity as it loses some of that youthful fruit.  This easily has a decade and more left to it, but it really is worth drinki

This is in a great place right now.  It won't get better although it will continue to mature.  Purple in color, ruby at the rim.  The nose is gorgeous with Black cherries, garrique, violets and tapenade.  On the palate, the texture is incredible.  Soft yet structured.  The wine just glides down the palate.  Lots of black raspberry fruit with some black cherries layered with a bit of earth.  Great balance.  Long finish.  This will go great with meat dishes and anything roasted.  No hurry, it should be at this level for a decade and even then some.