2020 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee

The 2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réserve is a seductive wine of mindboggling intensity, bursting with vivid redcurrant, strawberry, licorice, mint, white pepper, exotic spices and crushed rock aromas. Full-bodied, highly expressive, wrapped in ripe tannins and extremely well-balanced despite all the horsepower - this is a terrific wine built for decades to come. Like in 2019, only 2,900 bottles were produced.

Almost opaque in color the wine is in contention for the most concentrated wine of the vintage with its multiple layers of dark, inky berries, black pepper, black plum liqueur, dark cherries, licorice, chocolate and black pepper. The wine coats your palate with its layers of richness and flesh. Full-bodied, concentrated, dense and intense with a chewy finish that does not quit. The layers of black, blue and dark red fruits are seemingly endless as they build and expand. If you are lucky enough to score a bottle or two, give it some time in the bottle as the wine needs at least 5-8 years before it really starts to show all of its stuff. The wine is usually made from 90% Grenache, 5% Syrah, and 5% Counoise. If this seems like your thing, grab a few bottles as it becomes close to impossible to find as it matures. This is a clear contender for the wine of the vintage. Drink from 2026 - 2045.

Lastly, the 2020 Châteauneuf du Pape Reserve is probably the wine of the vintage. You're not going to find a richer, more concentrated wine out there, especially one that's also flawlessly balanced and as seamless as they come. Almost all Grenache from a single parcel of sandy soils, brought up in foudre, its dense purple hue is followed by a mammoth-sized bouquet of black and blue fruits, herbes de Provence, graphite, ground pepper, and liquid violets. Full-bodied, powerful, and opulent on the palate, it has building yet sweet tannins, remarkable purity of fruit, and a huge mid-palate, all of which give it some approachability even today. Nevertheless, this incredible wine deserves 4-6 years of bottle age and will cruise for two decades in cold cellars.