I continue to love the 2005 Gigondas Prestige des Hautes Garrigues, and it's absolutely one of the wines of the vintage. Still youthfully ruby/purple colored, with beautiful notes of black raspberries, crushed rock, ground herbs and spice, it's still structured and tannic on the palate, yet has terrific concentration and a big finish. Yves said this wine still needs another decade of cellaring, and I can't really disagree.

The luxury cuvee is called Les Hautes Garrigues, named after the plateau of head-pruned old vines this comes from. A blend of 80% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, and the rest Syrah and Cinsault aged in barrique, this has been a fabulous wine. (The 1989 is just hitting full stride.) The 2005 Gigondas Les Hautes Garrigues is a tougher hombre – bigger, more structured, denser, with an inky bluish/purple color, super cassis and cherry fruit along with licorice, earth, and a bit of pepper. It needs at least 5-6 years of bottle age and should keep for two decades as well.Yves Gras, one of the more charismatic figures of the Rhone Valley, has his own small, high-quality negociant business, and most of the wines merit serious consideration. He has hit a gem with the whites from Sablet, a village that is regarded by insiders as one of the finest sources for dry whites in the southern Rhone.Importer: Robert Kacher Selections, Washington, DC; tel. (202) 832-9083