Clos des Papes Chateauneuf du Pape 2000

Red, rust rim.

Discreet nose of red cherry jam, earth/meat, spice and garrigue/herbal tea. Iron/blood as a late arrival.

Round and mouth-filling. Acid-dominant structure frames flavors immediately, giving the front teeth a good coating of mineral/tannin chew. Quite refined in all aspects, however. Again, there is a suggestion of Pinot in the lightness/fineness of touch without any sacrifice in flavor length. Tanzer's "inner-mouth perfume" in spades.

No sense of purposeful extraction here.

Beautiful.

Day 4 - End of bottle. A bit more open-knit than day 1, but has lost nothing. The Avrils have little to worry about as long as they kick out wines like this. The New World, myself included, can't match the class (and easy complexity) here (yet).

$50