CDP Collection Charles Giraud, Domaine Saint Préfert 2007

Absolutely prodigious, and, like the other two 2007s, superior to what I predicted last year, is the utterly perfect 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Collection Charles Giraud. Made from 80-year-old Grenache (60%) and 60-year-old Mouvedre (40%) and aged totally in 600-liter demi-muids, I have had this wine a half dozen times, and it has been perfect on every occasion. It offers a mouthful of Chateauneuf du Pape filled with elegance, purity, and laser-like focus. The dark plum/purple color is accompanied by notes of camphor, ground pepper, sweet blackberry and black cherry fruit interwoven with licorice, garrigue, and spice box. In that sense, it is the quintessential expression of a Chateauneuf du Pape, Provence, and the southern Rhone. The wine hits the palate with a glorious display of red and black fruits, herbs, and spices. Full-bodied, meaty, rich, and chewy with extraordinary purity and intensity as well as a multilayered texture and a 60+ second finish, this amazing wine offers up a smorgasbord of aromas and flavors. Furthermore, everything is perfectly balanced. Already irresistible, this 2007 Chateauneuf should drink well for 15-20 years. Wow!

Opaque ruby. A captivating bouquet evokes raspberry, boysenberry, incense, olive, seared meat and dried flowers. Deeply concentrated red and dark berry flavors offer liqueur-like intensity, with complicating notes of lavender pastille and smoky minerals. Manages to be both outsized and feminine, showing striking clarity and lift on the finish. This show-stopper is balanced to age but will be irresistible soon after release, like so many 2007s. The blend here is 60% grenache and 40% mourvedre

The 2007 Chateauneuf du Pape Charles Giraud, a blend of 80-year-old Grenache (about 60%) and 60-year-old Mourvedre (40%) aged 100% in older 600-liter demi-muids (the large barrels that are a transitional size between a small barrel and a foudre), is a great, great wine. Black purple in color with a nose of hot stones, ground pepper, roasted meats, garrigue, and intense cassis and blackberry fruit, the wine is very full-bodied, incredibly pure, stunningly rich, and a profound example of Chateauneuf du Pape at its best. The acidity gives it a certain freshness, and the purity of fruit, something so characteristic of the finest wines of 2007, is on vivid display. This is a prodigious wine of great personality and singular quality. It should drink well for at least 20+ years.