A rocking bottle of wine and quite possibly a benchmark Chateauneuf, the 2000 Domaine Pierre Usseglio & Fils Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée de mon Aïeul is open for business with knockout aromatics of garrigue, saddle leather, meat and perfectly ripe, licorice infused fruit. Complex but also down right hedonistic, this is full bodied with sweet fruit, a full, smooth texture and a blockbuster finish. There’s still plenty of structure and tannin in the wine so I don’t see this fading anytime soon. Drink these over the next 10 years or so. - Jeb Dunnuck

One of the more upfront, downright sexy vintages for this cuvee, the 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul has been firing on all cylinders for about a decade now. Giving up terrific notes of spice-box, cured meats, garrigue and mature Grenache fruit, this beauty is full-bodied, rich, concentrated and mouth filling, with serious amounts of fruit and texture. Like the '99, it's fully mature, but should hold nicely, although there's no need to delay gratification. In 2000, this incorporated a new parcel of sandy soils from a site just north of Domaine de la Solitude, in the la Crau lieu-dit. This blend was 85% Grenache, the rest Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre raised all in foudre. - Jeb Dunnuck