Wine Spectator: Pretty Cabernet Franc aromas of crushed berries and some milk chocolate. Medium- to full-bodied, with soft and silky tannins. Long sweet fruit on the finish. -JS

Wine Spectator: This delivers the textbook panoply of blueberry, plum and blackberry fruit of the appellation, with a lush, creamy mouthfeel and a long licorice- and sweet toast-filled finish...

About this Wine: Characteristics of the appellation:
A structured,  lively and mineral wine with good  length on the palate. Both straightforward and fresh, with exemplary concent...

About this Wine: Characteristics of the appellation:
Bouquet marked by great freshness. Fruity, floral and mineral notes. A light and lively wine.

Food-wine matches:
Seafood (oyst...

Burghound: A slightly riper nose speaks primarily of dark berry fruit and warm earth aromas that are in keeping with the intensely earthy and opulent full-bodied flavors that possess goo...

Devon Magee: Pale lemon in color. Fresh citrus notes and subtle oak spice on the nose. Rich and waxy-textured on the mid-palate with lemon-curd, vanilla, butterscotch and marmalade notes. ...

Burghound: A notably more elegant nose of mild wood, ripe pear, floral and spice hints that lead to rich, round and more graceful medium-bodied flavors that exude a fine minerality on th...

Wine Spectator: Richly layered and detailed, but thoroughly mouthwatering, this lets lacy citrus, floral and white peach flavors meld into a core of quince, fig and persimmon fruit, while war...

About this Wine: This cuvee is called Combe des Fous (Hill of Fools).  This cuvee is from a specific parcel on Crau that long ago was considered too difficult to work, but the Maurels' gr...

Wine Spectator: Very youthful, with lots of exuberant, richly layered blackberry, boysenberry, cassis and plum fruit flavors. The solid structure is buried deep on the spice- and anise-filled...

Wine Spectator: A textbook version of the ripe, modern style, with a core of plum, linzer torte and black currant fruit backed by toasty spice and melted licorice note. A nice tug of roasted ...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: From Grenache, Carignan, and Syrah planted in a mixture of gneiss, schist, and chalk, and vinified half each in tank and barrel (demi-muids as well as barriques), the 2009 Cot...

Robert Parker's Wine Advocate: Made from 90% Syrah and 10% Mourvedre aged in 100% new oak, the inky/purple-hued 2009 Cotes du Ventoux Persia reveals notes of smoky barbecue intermixed with graphite, blackbe...

Wine Spectator: Dark and juicy, with a lovely espresso and tobacco frame to the dark fig, cassis and violet core. Long and rich through the finish, but with graphite-led cut that adds serious...

Stephen Tanzer's IWC: Good deep red. Musky aroma of raspberry, blueberry, smoke, crushed rock and game. At once sweet and taut, with an impression of lift and energy rare for the vintage. Really...

Wine Spectator: This is very well-built, with a range of apple wood and toasted spice notes framing the core of crushed plum, blackberry and cassis. Dusty structure give a long and grippy fee...

Wine Spectator: Bright cherry and berry fruit flavors nestle in a broad, soft texture in this juicy red, which has bright acidity, modest tannins and an herbal, floral finish that's fresh and...

Wine Spectator: This has a distinctive apple wood and mesquite mix up front, with racy linzer torte and cherry pit notes leading the way for extra plum and cassis flavors. Toasted wood and sp...

Ryan Moses: 80% merlot, 15% cabernet sauvignon, 5% cabernet franc. Dark inky core with a hazy purple rim. The bouquet is restrained, with jammy red and black fruit that fades into vanilla...

Wine Spectator: Solid, with a racy iron and violet frame to the core of sleek red currant, cherry and damson plum fruit. Not big, but with nice cut on the finish. Drink now through 2014. –JM