2018 Chateauneuf du Pape

Focused on its strawberry, cherry and red plum notes, the fruits are soft, sweet and pure. Refined, elegant, forward, juicy and fresh, with touches of herbs and a chalky finish, this is quite nice. Give it a year or two in the cellar.

Moving to the bottled wines and starting with the base 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape, this blend of 75% Grenache, 11% each of Syrah and Mourvèdre and the rest a mix of permitted varieties was only 40% destemmed and brought up all in foudre and older barrels. A classic bouquet of red and black currants, sappy green herbs, cedarwood, ground pepper, and smoked game gives way to a medium to full-bodied Châteauneuf du Pape that has a lively spine of acidity, firm tannins, and a great finish. This is classic old school Châteauneuf du Pape all the way. It's going to benefit from 2 to 4 years of bottle age and keep for 15 years or more. Built like an NFL linebacker, Nicolas Boiron is nevertheless a gentle giant and produced a bevy of brilliant wines in 2018 and 2019. While many estates stick to a single style (whether that be modern, traditional, etc.), the wines from Bosquet des Papes span the full spectrum. His classic cuvee and the old vine Chante Le Merle releases are classic, old-school Châteauneuf du Pape, his A La Gloire de Mon Grand-Père is more quasi-modern in style with partial destemming and aging in demi-muids, and his La Folie cuvee is full-on modern with destemming and plenty of new oak. Regardless of the style, the quality is brilliant, and these are beautiful wines. In addition, while I used to find a certain rusticity in the tannins in these wines, today, these wines show considerably more elegance and purity.

The 2018 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Tradition gives the impression of dusty earth and finely ground spices on the nose, all coating a core of ripe cherries. It's medium to full-bodied, silky and concentrated, with nice grip and persistence on the finish, where it picks up hints of cocoa powder and ground cloves. It's turned out even better—more structured and complete—than I expected after last year's visit to the estate.