2007 Chateauneuf du Pape

Vivid red. Pungent bouquet of smoky red berries and cherry-cola complemented by notes of Asian spices and vanilla. Sappy, palate-coating red fruit flavors are given bite by a note of white pepper and pick up a candied floral quality on the back half. Drinks well now, and finishes with very good clarity and sweet persistence.

The same thing cannot be said of the very seductive, full-bodied, deep ruby-purple-colored 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape. This is a beauty, with plenty of chocolatey black raspberry and cherry fruit and hints of licorice, smoke, and roasted herbs. The wine is full-bodied, rich, pure, and impeccably well-made. It can be drunk now or cellared for 10-12+ years. 2007 is a top-flight vintage for Beaurenard, although their efforts in 2001, 2000, and 1998 – not to mention 1990 – eclipse the 2007. No known American importer.

Deep, bright red. Seductively perfumed aromas of raspberry, cherry-cola and baking spices; smells like a sexy New World pinot noir. Velvety red berry flavors show very good depth and sweetness, with bracing minerality lending urgency. Finishes sweet, focused and juicy, with a repeating note of raspberry. I could drink this now.