Shimmering ruby-red. Expressive, smoke- and mineral-accented red fruit and floral scents show fine definition and pick up a spicy accent with air. Sappy and penetrating on the palate, offering appealingly sweet raspberry, cherry and candied lavender flavors that deepen slowly through the midpalate. Shows solid, spicy thrust on a long, smooth finish framed by velvety tannins. This is an exceptional example of an entry-level Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

Melted licorice, plum sauce, cherry purée and black tea notes all meld into a silky, suave and seamlessly-textured wine that leaves a subtle echo of lavender at the very end. Grenache, Cinsault, Syrah and Mourvèdre. Drink now through 2032. 8,304 cases made, 692 cases imported.

Gorgeous black raspberries, strawberry, spring flowers, incense, and assorted Provençal spice notes all emerge from the 2019 Châteauneuf Du Pape, a medium to full-bodied, incredibly pure, utterly seamless 2019 that excels on all accounts. Madame Ferando continues to knock it out of the park in just about every vintage, and this is well worth seeking out. The base cuvée is 85% Grenache and 5% each of Syrah, Mourvèdre, and Cinsault, aged all in concrete tanks.

The tank-aged 2019 Chateauneuf du Pape is 85% Grenache, with the balance equally divided among Cinsault, Mourvèdre and Syrah. Scents of ripe cherries and cola spice emerge on the nose, while the palate is full-bodied, concentrated and richly textured, with a long finish marked by softly dusty tannins. Tasted twice (once blind), with the wine at the estate seeming darker and more tannic-and perhaps a bit longer lived-than the red-fruited, silky perception when tasted blind, but both given identical ratings.