2009 Domaine Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes

Beautifully elegant and finesse-driven, the 2009 Tardieu-Laurent Châteauneuf-du-Pape Vieilles Vignes is a blend of 85% Grenache, 10% Mourvèdre, and 5 % Syrah that aged all in neutral French oak. It displays a deep, semi-opaque color to go with vibrant aromas of bing cherries, loads of garrigue, assorted flowers, and hints of licorice on the nose. Textbook southern Rhône and beautifully complex, with a core of sweet fruit, this silky, polished 2009 is medium to full-bodied, perfectly proportioned, balanced, and has sweet, silky tannin that emerges on the finish. While delicious now, this will age brilliantly, with 12-15+ years or more of prime drinking. Very well done and well worth seeking out.

(85% grenache, 10% mourvedre and 5% syrah): Bright purple. Exotic spice and potpourri scents accent intense red and dark berries on the seductively perfumed nose. Sweet, expansive and energetic on the palate, offering an array of berry and floral flavors and silky texture. Becomes spicier with air and finishes with outstanding energy, clarity and cling. I find this delicious wine surprisingly approachable right now.

Dark violet. Black raspberry and cherry aromas show a sexy, floral quality, along with notes of lavender and smoky minerals. Bright and silky but rich, offering very good clarity and seductive spiciness to its red and dark fruit and floral flavors. Quite a bit more graceful than the masculine regular bottling. Fine-grained tannins give shape and grip to a long, spicy, floral-accented finish.