More ripe and exuberant than the '10, the hedonistic-styled 2009 Cornas Vieilles Fontaines offers tons of incense, flowers, black raspberries, toasted spices and violet-like aromas and flavors. Full-bodied, layered and downright sexy, it still has plenty of class and firms up beautifully on the finish. It's hard to resist now given all its fruit and texture, but there's enough tannin here to warrant 4-5 years of bottle age.

Inky ruby. Aromas of black and blue fruit preserves and candied licorice, with strong vanilla and spicecake qualities that build with sir. Broad and sappy on entry, then firmer on the mid-palate, offering intense spiciness and an array of dark fruit flavors. The vanilla note comes back strong on the youthfully tannic finish, which lingers with excellent fruit-driven persistence. I'd give this deep, rich, very promising wine a few years to absorb its oak.