Vivid ruby-red. Powerful raspberry liqueur, cherry pie, incense, potpourri and spicecake aromas show outstanding clarity and pick up a vibrant mineral nuance with aeration. Sweet and seamless in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated but shockingly lithe raspberry, cherry liqueur, five-spice powder and lavender pastille flavors given lift and spine by a jolt of juicy acidity. Blends richness and delicacy with a deft hand and finishes wonderfully long and precise, with pliant tannins adding shape and gentle grip. Is this the wine of the vintage? It's definitely on the (very) short list.

All Grenache, mostly from sandy soils and aged only in concrete, the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Vieilles Vignes is a compelling wine. It offers the essence of ripe Grenache in its notes of ripe plums, purple raspberries and stone fruit, then layers on savory-spicy-meaty complexity. Full-bodied, rich, velvety and slightly warm on the finish (it reached at least 16% alcohol), it should provide thrilling drinking over the next decade.

100% Grenache. Cask sample. Succulent blackberries with a good dose of violet scent on the palate. Lovely complexity here, with structure to last and firm but drinkable tannic grip. Lots of immediate pleasure. (RH)