2016 Gigondas La Colline Domaine des Bosquets

Rich, full-bodied and velvety, the 2016 Gigondas La Colline is marked by its elevated ripeness, but it carries the warmth, plum and chocolate notes well, adding hints of dried spices and fine leather. It stays vibrant and crisp, almost salty and zesty on the long, intense finish. Tasted twice, with consistent notes. 2018 - 2028.

Lurid ruby-red. An expansive, highly perfumed bouquet evokes ripe red fruits, incense, candied flowers and smoky minerals, and a sexy Asian spice nuance builds in the glass. Sweet and penetrating, offering lucid raspberry liqueur, cherry and spicecake flavors that show outstanding depth as well as energy. Refuses to let go of the palate on the subtly tannic finish, which hangs on with superb focus, building sweetness and noteworthy tenacity.

Dripping with sun- drenched blueberry and plum flavors, La Colline is Bosquets' expression of pure Grenache. It's a fleshy, opulent wine marked by earthen tones of crushed clay and smoked herb and a delightfully clingy texture. Its soft tannins and juicy constitution make it ready to drink now, but it should gain depth well through 2028.

This delivers a gorgeous display of fruit, with raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry notes in lockstep as they race through, infused with light anise, bergamot and rooibos tea accents along the way. The racy, chalky structure holds the finish, giving this sleek tension. Best from 2020 through 2036. From France.-J.M