Saturated ruby-red. High-pitched, mourvedre-dominated aromas of blackberry, shoe polish and licorice, with a lightly floral topnote. Very dense and very primary, with an intense spiciness at its core. Quite powerfully structured, even austere, and perhaps already shutting down. Finishes with huge but even palate-coating tannins and great length. This will age in bottle for many years. The best red wine I tasted from bottle during my time in the Southern Rhone in December 1998.

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The 1995 remains tight, backward, and far less evolved than the 1998. The dense inky purple color is accompanied by a floral, blueberry, mineral, and licorice-dominated bouquet. Huge and formidably endowed, but closed, tannic, and backward, it will be at its apogee between 2010-2030.

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Very young, with tightly drawn tannins still covering the black cherry, raspberry and sweet cigar smoke notes. Plenty of guts, with beef bouillon, mesquite, game, hot stones, graphite and spice notes coursing through the finish. Should be very long-lived.--1995 Chateauneuf-du-Pape retrospective. 500 cases made.

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Had a glass from a magnum at the l'Ossier dinner in Tokyo for the chef of the Bristol Hotel. Drank it side by side with the '98. Compared to the latter the '95 is very tight and backward. Much more acidic. Like the regular 95 beaucastel, I suspect these will only come out after another 5-10 years of cellaring. But it is clear from the hang time in each sip that it is going to surprise wonderfully at some point.