Clos de l'Oratoire des Papes Les Chorégies 2018

Dark and muscular, with blackberry puree and dried fig laced with bitter chocolate wrapped around a spine of iron. Earthy and spicy, with crème brûlée highlights and charred apple wood accents through the dynamic, impressive finish. Grenache and Syrah. Best from 2024 through 2032. 50 cases imported.

Vivid ruby-red. An expressive nose displays ripe red and dark berries, candied flowers and licorice, and a smoky mineral overtone builds in the glass. Juicy and concentrated on the palate, offering pliant, appealingly sweet cherry, black raspberry and floral pastille flavors that become livelier on the back half. Finishes supple, sweet and long, with slow-building tannins adding shape and grip.

Medium to deep garnet red. Layered and expressive nose displaying rose petal, ripe plum, cherry, cassis, garrigue and wet tobacco. The palate is powerful with good volume, yet finely tuned with grainy tannin, no noticeable oak, rather a pure fruity expression with both dry and herbal spices, succulent fruit, good concentration and a very long lingering finish.

The 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Les Chorégies offers slightly more concentration as well as slightly more elegance. Beautiful notes of black raspberries, toasted spices, dried flowers, and licorice all emerge from this medium to full-bodied effort, which has a terrific mid-palate, ripe yet certainly present tannins, and a great finish. It’s one of the few 2018s that will benefit from a year or two of bottle age, and it will keep nicely over the following decade.