CDP Cuvée Réservée, Domaine de Pégau 2010

Looking at the 2010s and a brilliant vintage for Laurence, the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape offers up classic Pegau aromas and flavors of ripe dark fruits, garrigue, cured meats, tobacco leaf, saddle leather and hints of game. Full-bodied and beautifully concentrated, it offers a seamless, layered profile on the palate with thrilling mid-palate depth, sweet, yet substantial tannin, and a blockbuster finish that stays fresh and beautifully focused. Quite polished by this estates standards, it nevertheless screams southern France and I doubt it's possible to have too much of this beauty in the cellar. It will absolutely thrill over the coming 2-3 decades. Drink 2016-2030.

The 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee, which I tasted from several foudres, is essentially equivalent in quality, but it has not yet been bottled. If I understood Paul Feraud correctly, he tends to prefer the 2009, but says Laurence prefers the 2010. In any event, this is one of those "pick'em" dilemmas. The 2010 is a fabulous wine of exceptional intensity, tremendous flavor authority and full-bodied power. It is slightly more reserved than the more flamboyant 2009, but of course it is still in foudre. Very rich with lots of Provencal herb, smoky, meaty, kirsch, black currant and blackberry notes, it is a stunningly viscous, thick and rich effort with a slightly more vibrant finish. This magnificent Chateauneuf du Pape should age for three decades or more based on how well the 1989 and 1990 are maturing. This 2010 should be bottled early next year, and released in Fall, 2013.

Intense, with the tarry, bittersweet cocoa-fueled grip of the vintage running through a well-endowed core of crushed plum, blackberry paste and braised fig. The muscular finish picks up notes of brick dust, pepper, warm chestnut leaf and smoldering charcoal. A throwback profile, with a hyperripe core of fruit-and it works. Best from 2015 through 2035

Composed of 80% Grenache, 12% Syrah, 4% Mourvedre and 4% miscellaneous varietals, the 2010 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Reservee tips the scales at 14.8% alcohol, which is slightly lower than the 2009. It reveals a deep ruby/purple color along with wonderful sweetness and lots of roasted meat characteristics intermixed with notions of herbs, forest floor, kirsch and black fruits. The tannins are surprisingly soft, the wine has great intensity and a blacker fruit profile than even the 2009. It looks to be another superb effort that should slightly eclipse the 2009. Like the 1989 and 1990 Cuvee Reservees, it may be impossible to pick a favorite between the 2010 and 2009. As I recall, Paul has always favored the 1990, Laurence the 1989.