The 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape, which is comprised of 90% Grenache and 10% Mourvedre, and comes all from the Palestor, Pignan and Boislauzon lieux-dits. Medium to dark-ruby in color, it gives off classic aromas and flavors of garrigue, soy sauce, roasted herbs and ripe black cherries to go with a medium-bodied, nicely fruited profile on the palate. It’s a solid, textbook Chateauneuf that’s drinking right at maturity. An estate that is no doubt at the top of their game today, Mas de Boislauzon is run by the talented brother/sister pair, Daniel and Christine Chaussy. Located in the northern part of the appellation and covering roughly nine hectares, they release up to three red Chateauneuf du Papes and one white.

Deep red. Spicy and meaty on the nose, with scents of cherry skin, roasted coffee, bitter chocolate and cracked pepper. Dense and powerful, with ripe blackberry and cherry jam flavors that are nicely framed by sizable, solid tannins. Firm, dry and deep on the back. This will need some time.

Powerful nose of ripe fruit plus liquorice – attention-grabbing. Big and bold and notably alcoholic. For sportsmen this. You need to have taken quite a bit of exercise to deserve it and be able to cope with its onslaught. On the gres northern sector of the appellation. There is also a super cuvée. Jancis Robinson