2007 Saint Prefert - Chateauneuf du Pape Auguste Favier Reserve Rhone Blend - France - Southern Rhone - Chateauneuf du Pape - Red

($60; 80% grenache and 20% cinsault) Inky ruby. Wild, explosive aromas of blackberry, minerals, incense and smoked meat. At once large-scaled and sappy, with zesty minerality lifting pure cherry and dark berry flavors. A dense, penetrating essence of dark smoky fruit, with excellent definition and finishing energy. Fully enveloped tannins make this approachable today but this is built to age.

Grenache Noir 80%, Syrah 5%, Mourvèdre 5%, Cinsault 10%. Aged in cement.Relatively volatile. Then rather fragile on the palate. Sweet and a little soft. Black cherry liqueur. But a bit of garrigue tingle on the finish, which is pleasing. This should deliver lots of pleasure but don’t serve it too warm. Rather light finish.

A wine for patient connoisseurs and long-term cellaring is the 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Reserve Auguste Favier. A blend of 85% Grenache and 15% old vine Cinsault, half is aged in cement tanks, and the rest in 2- to 3-year-old 600-liter demi-muids. This inky/blue/purple-tinged 2007 offers up aromas of graphite, camphor, incense, blueberries, and black fruits. Full-bodied, young and unevolved, with massive depth, great concentration, and super purity, texture, and length, it requires 2-4 years of cellaring, and should easily age for two decades or more.

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