2009 Cotes du Rhone Villages Rasteau

Opaque purple. Heady aromas of dark berries, cherry pit, lavender and anise, with a bright mineral quality that gains power with air. Focused, impressively concentrated black raspberry and bitter cherry flavors. Fine-grained tannins give the persistent finish shape and grip but they play second fiddle to this wine's sexy fruit and floral qualities. Bressy also showed me his 2008 and 2007 Rasteaus: the '08 had uncanny heft and depth of fruit for that difficult vintage, while the '07 showed a wild array of floral and spice notes, along with sweet dark berry flavors.

Also incredible, the 2009 Rasteau has a similar, decadent feel in its black raspberry, licorice, smoked earth, chocolate and saddle leather. A blend of 70% Grenache and 30% other permitted varieties, aged in a combination of demi-muid, foudre and concrete tank, it has full-bodied power, massive, yet sweet tannin and blockbuster levels of depth and richness. Drink it anytime over the coming decade or more.||Covering 13 hectare of old vines (45-90-years old) in Rasteau, this estate was taken over by Jerome Bressy in 1998. The farming is all organic, yields are miniscule and he producers a single red and white cuvee. Today, he's making some of the greatest wines in the Southern Rhone. Unfortunately, there's just not much to go around, but if readers want to taste the essence of these sun baked, south-facing slopes in Rasteau, don't miss a chance to grab some of these. Jan 2015, www.erobertparker.com, Drink: 2014-2024