2016 Chateau Mont-Redon Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Rhone, France 750ml

Deep brilliant violet. Intensely perfumed aromas of ripe cherry, blackberry, candied violet, spicecake, garrigue and exotic spices, along with a smoky mineral overtone that builds in the glass. Stains the palate with deeply concentrated red and dark berry liqueur, fruitcake, licorice pastille and lavender flavors that possess a compelling blend of richness and energy. The mineral note comes back strong on a strikingly long, penetrating finish shaped by velvety, steadily mounting tannins. This is the best example of this venerable domaine's work that I can recall drinking in its infancy, and it may measure up to their legendary 1959 and 1961 bottlings, which I first tried back in the late 1980s.