I'm not typically a fan of Grenache aged in new, smaller oak vessels, but the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve des 2 Freres works. It's 100% Grenache aged in new 300-liter barrels for 14-15 months. Vanilla and baking spices make themselves known, but this full-bodied, plush wine offers waves of Christmas cake-like flavors and unimaginable enveloping softness, balanced by decent acids and a long, supple finish. It's considerably fresher than I remember the 2015 being.

100% Grenache - Full red colour. Smoky, soaked cherries aroma, coulis of raspberry and basil present, oak tar in the background. The palate is more marked by the oak charcoal of the oak, holds good stylish richness inside the oak. It ends on a flavour of cooked plums. The assertive oak demands it be left until 2022. It can then regain some typicity over its current cellar influence. Tasted in October 2017.

100% Grenache. Cask sample. Very strong new oak scent on the nose, which has very attractive cedar spice and cinnamon, but which comes at the expense of flavour balance. The red fruit is perfectly ripe, but obscured by oak. (RH)