The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape is tannic, masculine, virile, and backward, revealing a dark ruby/purple color, hints of licorice, white chocolate, roasted nuts, and plenty of black currants and cherries. There are some attractive peppery spices and lushness on the attack, but then the wine quickly shuts down. This is a wine meant for 3-4 years of bottle age that should last for 15 or more years. To repeat what I’ve said in the past, this is a top-flight estate making Chateauneuf du Pape for long-term aging, with the top cuvees essentially as ageworthy as most vintages of Bordeaux. The philosophy is modern or progressive depending on your point of view, with a very liberal use of small oak barrels, but once past four or five years in the bottle, I have always found La Gardine’s Chateauneuf du Pape to be very Provencal despite their reliance on abundant new oak.Importer: Shaw-Ross Intl. Importer

Chateau de la Gardine's classic 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape, has a youthful, lively feel to go with plenty of cassis, blackberry, toasted spice, licorice and chocolate. Pure, nicely balanced and with good acidity, it still shows some oak, but is drinking nicely. It should have another decade of longevity. The blend, aged mostly in 2- to 6-year-old barrels, is 70% Grenache, 14% Syrah, 10% Mourvedre and the rest a mix of permitted varieties.