2003 Domaine Grand Veneur Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Origines

The 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Les Origines is dazzling stuff and one of the vintage’s top efforts. Deep purple to the rim with a gorgeous nose of blackberry liqueur intermixed with blueberries, smoke, licorice, roasted meats, and herbs, the wine has fabulous concentration, a multi-layered mid-palate, and a blockbuster finish with sweet tannin and plenty of opulence. Drink it over the next 12-14 years. For the last 7-8 years, this has been one of the best-run estates in Chateauneuf du Pape. Alain Jaume and his two capable sons, Sebastien and Christophe, continue to propel Domaine Grand Veneur into the upper echelon of quality. They also offer an impressively well-made negociant line of wines (under the name Alain Jaume). The hallmarks of the Grand Veneur wines include their extraordinary purity of flavor and impeccable balance. Moreover, they have kept prices remarkably fair. Importer: Kysela Pere et Fils, Winchester, VA; tel. (540) 722-9228

Ruby-red color. Intensely aromatic nose offers potent garrigue scents along with notes of jammy cherry, raw meat, fresh tobacco, bay laurel, licorice and sexy oak spices. Big, dense and sweet, showing intense dark berry flavors with complicating earthy and herbal accents. Focused, concentrated and long-and lovely right now.

(cask sample) Great value. Sweet, exciting, vibrant – like a baby version of Marcoux’s Vieilles Vignes. ‘Urgent’, a word that seems fashionable in current tasting notes, seems appropriate here. (JR)