I was even more impressed by the 2020 Châteauneuf du Pape Cuvée Réservée than the 2019. Boasting crazily complex floral scents, garrigue, raspberries and cherries, this is one incredibly perfumed example of Pegau. Medium to full-bodied, silky, elegant and long, this is quintessential Pegau.

This feels quite evolved already, it's ripe and punchy, with high alcohol and very grippy tannins. Quite fierce! It does have freshness however, bite and intensity. It grows on you. A bit old fashioned perhaps, but has intensity and grabs your attention. Touch of caramel on the long finish. Complexity is waiting in the wings. No destemming, fermented in concrete, aged in foudres for 24 months. Also contains 1% of Cinsault, Terret Noir, Picardan, Muscardin, Bourboulenc, Picpoul Noir, Vaccarèse, Roussanne, Counoise and Clairette.

The 2020 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée is one of the strongest vintages for this wine in recent history. It is magnificent, soaring from the glass with pungent aromas of crème de cassis, ripe raspberry and strawberry, cured meat, tobacco, licorice, iodine and garrigue. Full-bodied, vibrant to the core and offering a multidimensional profile, this wine is really, really good. The Féraud family and the entire team deserve a round of applause for this sublime Cuvée Réservée, which will still be kicking ass 20 years from now.

Brimming with forest berries, this has excellent concentration and wonderful freshness for the warm vintage, plus fine tannins and a slew of cocoa-powder and spicy notes at the long, polished finish.

Looking at the classic 2020 Châteauneuf Du Pape Cuvée Réservée, it shows the ripe, round, opulent side to the vintage as well as classic Pegau notes of gorgeous black cherries, Provençal garrigue, sandalwood, and ground pepper, with some background meaty nuances. Medium to full-bodied, it has a layered, seamless mouthfeel, plenty of ripe tannins, and outstanding length. It's a more forward style of Pegau, not far off the style of the 2018, but it will nevertheless keep for two decades.

60% Clairette, 20% Grenache Blanc, 10% Roussanne, 10% Bourboulenc. Aged eight months in tank. Biodynamic. Zesty, baked-apple note with a mealy, nutty presence. Touch of oak on the palate but integrated, the fruit ripe, round and juicy with a freshness that runs all the way through. Quite complex with a honeyed note on the end. (JL)