Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, Les Trois Sources 2016

The 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Trois Sources is straight-up sensational and isn’t far off the more expensive Reserve cuvée in style and quality. Huge notes of blackcurrants, black raspberries, crushed violets, licorice, and incredible minerality, as well as a smoking floral quality, all soar from the glass of this full-bodied, seamless, pure wine that readers should snatch up. With good acidity, awesome purity, and a great, great finish, it's an incredible wine any way you look at it. Drink it anytime over the coming two decades or more.

Deep ruby. Pungent, mineral-accented cherry, black raspberry, licorice and garrigue scents, plus a hint of candied flowers in the background. Deep and alluringly sweet, offering cherry compote, lavender, star anise and cola flavors that are given frame and spine by a core of juicy acidity. Finishes extremely long, spicy and precise, with building tannins and a powerful whiplash of spice-laced red fruit liqueur.

Grown on sandy soils. Very deeply coloured, all the way to the rim. Deep, dark fruits and a note of crème de mure on the nose, with a fresh, lifted and lively character. It has very fine tannins and piercing acidity, with the inky, concentrated juice leading to a long finish.