The 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul was only the second vintage of this cuvée to be made. A foudre-aged blend of fruit (almost exclusively Grenache) from the lieux-dits of la Guigasse and les Serres, it's bricking in hue, offering up scents of sous-bois, leather and roasted meat. Still full-bodied and richly tannic, this impressive wine should be consumed over the next couple of years, before the fruit fades further.

The 1999 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul (10,000 bottles produced) has closed down since bottling. It is a dense purple-colored, concentrated effort made from incredibly low yields of 15-20 hectoliters per hectare from 80-year old vines. A blend of 95% Grenache and 5% Cinsault, this tannic, backward, blockbuster vin de garde should open in 4-5 years, and last for two decades. It is an extracted, dense, atypically powerful 1999. Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173