2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Réservé Domaine de la Vieille Julienne

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.

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.

A blockbuster that maintains form and definition despite its massive heft. Dense and dark, with chewy notes of sweet cassis, violet and perfectly ripe fig, all laced with leafy tobacco on a foundation of solid iron. The oak has nicely retreated into the backdrop, and a salty beam of succulent acidity washes through. Manages to stay pure, balanced and lively even with a high alcohol level. Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre.