2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Tradition

Bright purple. Ripe red and dark berry aromas with complicating notes of licorice and sassafras. Smooth, sappy, penetrating blackberry and cherry flavors are given spine by gentle acidity. Finishes with impressive breadth and lingering sweetness-and little in the way of tannins to get in the way of early enjoyment.

Offering up stunning aromatics of kirsch, raspberries, tar, hot stone and garrigue, the 2007 Domaine Giraud Châteauneuf-du-Pape is full bodied, very rich, textured and long. Despite the size and full texture, this has purity and precision. Drink over the next 15 years.

Inky purple. Powerfully scented bouquet of kirsch, mulberry and candied lavender. All primary fruit right now, offering dense red and dark berry flavors and no apparent tannins. The finish is broad and sweet, echoing the seductive floral note. Marie Giraud and her brother Francois's first vintage on their own was 2005, and the quality leap has been dramatic in just a few short years. Marie told me that this wine will be bottled earlier than the others, "to preserve freshness," and that these vines range from 60 to 80 years of age.