Domaine Saint Préfert Collection Charles Giraud Châteauneuf-du-Pape 2009

Glass-staining ruby A kaleidoscopic bouquet combines dark berries, kirsch, rose oil, smoke and Moroccan spices. Lush and sweet, offering an intriguing mix of power and finesse, with lively acidity lifting the ripe blackberry and cherry flavors that become spicier with air. Finishes extremely long and sweet, accented by sexy floral and spice cake nuances.

The 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Collecion Charles Giraud has a saturated ruby/purple color and a beautiful nose of blueberries, blackberries, licorice, creosote, and some smoked herbs and seaweed. It is full-bodied, dense, chewy, with good acidity, high tannin, and fabulous fruit richness. This will require patience, probably about 2ndash;3 years of bottle age, and then can be drunk for the next 15 or more years.

The 2005 Chacirc;teauneuf du Pape Collection Charles Giraud displays a deep ruby/purple color along with tangy garrigue, pepper, incense, creosote, licorice, and meaty notes. This is a full-bodied, seriously endowed wine with firm structure, a boatload of tannin, and a full-bodied, powerful mouthfeel as well as finish. This masculine Chacirc;teauneuf-du-Pape possesses a certain angularity, so it will benefit from 2ndash;4 years of bottle age. Drink it over the following 15 years.

Deep ruby. Wild, meaty blackberry and blueberry scents, with a tangy mineral undertone. Dense, deep berry flavors build and gain sweetness with aeration, finishing with a strong creme de cassis quality framed by pliant, suave tannins. Compellingly sweet and concentrated wine.

A stunning nose of warm fig jam, buckwheat honey and shiso leaf notes gives way to a superrich palate of blackberry, black licorice, graphite and bittersweet cocoa. But this is silky smooth and super refined on the finish, thanks to ripe, embedded tannins and a great undertow of acidity. Better with cellaring. Drink now through 2027.

Displaying a denser ruby/purple hue, the 2009 Chateauneuf du Pape Collection Charles Giraud comes from the sector of Chateauneuf du Pape known as Cristia (whose soils contain a lot of sand as well as the famous small boulders and rocks known as the Galets Roules). Composed of 60% Grenache (from 80-year-old vines) and 40% Mourvedre (from 60-year-old vines), this wine is aged in 3-year-old 600-liter demi-muids. In 2007, this was one of the most monumental wines I have ever tasted, and the 2009, while not comparable, is a gorgeous offering that is unquestionably one of the stars of the vintage. It boasts a dark ruby/purple hue as well as impressive aromas of roasted meats, beef blood, forest floor, black currants and kirsch. The complex aromatics are followed by a dense, rich, full-bodied wine that will benefit from 1-2 years of cellaring, and last for 10-15 years.

Dark roasted Kenya AA coffee, braised fig, charred mesquite, mulled currant and blackberry fruit all work together in this huge and muscular but seamless and velvety offering. Graphite, brown bread, mineral and espresso notes weave through the finish, which has loads of pepper- and loam-tinged grip in reserve. Grenache and Mourvegrave;dre. Best from 2011 through 2030.