Deep violet. Enormous, room-filling bouquet encompasses the full range of red and dark berry tones, along with an intense garrigue component. Powerful and quite sweet, with dense dark berry and cherry flavors framed by solid tannins. The fruit expands on the building finish, penetrating every nook of the palate and finishing solid and chewy. Pretty stunning stuff.

The 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee du Papet exhibits sweet, elegant black cherry fruit notes intermixed with some licorice and tobacco leaf. It is layered, medium to full-bodied, ripe for the vintage, but does not have as much concentration as I had expected from last year. Nevertheless, this is a beauty that should drink graciously for 12 or more years. The 2004s from this bastion of traditionalism are slightly less impressive than what I had hoped for based on previous tastings, especially the Cuvee du Papet, but the wine tasted like a recently bottled wine, and perhaps was closed because of that. At any rate, it is clearly outstanding, just perhaps not as brilliant as I had thought.