2013 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Øko Cuvée des Cadettes Ch La Nerthe

Purists will no doubt object to this wine's fine patina of sophisticated, cedery oak, but there's plenty of high-quality fruit To back it up. Incorporating unusual proportions of 44% Grenache, 33% Mouvedre and 23% Syrah, the fruit is ripe and lush, Velvety-supple and medium to full in weight, without any sense of heaviness. Drink 2020-2030.

Purists will no doubt object to this wine's fine patina of sophisticated, cedery oak, but there's plenty of high-quality fruit To back it up. Incorporating unusual proportions of 44% Grenache, 33% Mouvedre and 23% Syrah, the fruit is ripe and lush, Velvety-supple and medium to full in weight, without any sense of heaviness. Drink 2020-2030.

Selected from La Nerthe's oldest vines, 85 to 100 years old, this is a blend of grenache, mourvedre and syrah cofermented without added yeasts in barrel and aged in new oak for a year. Right now, that wood treatment gives the wine a cedary, sappy scent, but the fruit comes up after a few hours in a decanter, pristine in its fresh florality and red- berried juiciness. Then the cedar scents read more as forest floor, adding depth and breadth to the wine. This should continue to develop well in the cellar for a decade or more.

A flashy style, with an obvious mocha and melted licorice frame around a core of ripe, succulent plum and blackberry fruit flavors. The fruit and spice notes meld nicely through the rounded finish, leaving a long echo of opulence. Has the depth to cellar, but the fruit is there for the taking now. For fans of the style. Drink now through 2025.-J.M.