A very pure beautifully fruited wine that comes from sandy soils and the northeastern part of the AOC the 2009 La Bastide Saint-Dominique Châteauneuf-du-Pape is a blend of 80% Grenache 10% Syrah 5% Mourvèdre and 5% Cinsault that's aged for 18 months in tank. Showing beautiful southern Rhône character the wine has loads of ripe kirsch and jammy blackberry styled fruits to go with licorice spice fresh cut flowers and serious minerality on the nose. While there's lots of fruit here this also shows solid complexity and depth. Medium to full-bodied on the palate the wine delivers a concentrated rich mid-palate excellent acidity and a clean classically styled finish that carries fine silky tannin. Overall this straight-up delicious Châteauneuf-du-Pape should hit its stride with 1-3 years of bottle age and drink well for a decade.

The tank-aged 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape (80% Grenache and the rest Syrah Mourvedre and Cinsault) is Provencal in style displaying lots of garrigue lavender pepper and kirsch characteristics. With sweet fruit and silky tannin this seductive 2009 is best consumed over the next 7-8 years.