Lush and ripe but with solid underlying structure the 2009 Domaine de Cristia Châteauneuf-du-Pape Renaissance is a blend of 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvèdre with the Mourvèdre seeing some barrel aging and the Grenache seeing only tank. The wine is full and fleshy with sweet blackberry and cassis styled fruits that are balanced by licorice roasted meat subtle flowers and solid minerality that shows on both the nose and the on the finish. Decadently fruited on the palate with a full-bodied textured mid-palate sweet fruit and ripe tannin that shines on the finish. This needs a year or three to integrate and should have an easy 15+ years of prime drinking.

A wine that needs to be forgotten for 3-4 years is the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Renaissance. Made from 60% Grenache and 40% Mourvedre, with the Grenache aged in older barrels and the Mourvedre in new barrels, it shows discrete oak in its blackberry, cassis, vanilla, smoked meat and licorice-laced bouquet. This gives way to a full-bodied, backward, moderately tannic 2009 that has solid density and concentration as well as admirable length on the finish. It should be at its best from 2018-2029. - Jeb Dunnuck

This is really packed but amazingly suave and polished as the huge core of braised fig melted licorice cassis and ganache is seamlessly put together and backed by perfectly embedded grip. The finish is hefty but a mouthwatering note of singed iron keeps it driven. Best from 2012 through 2024. 500 cases made. -JM