The least impressive but still excellent wine among these four Chateauneuf du Papes is the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Rubis. A surprisingly soft wine made from a blend of 75% Grenache and the rest Syrah and Mourvedre, the wine has a deep ruby/purple color and a classic nose of incense, licorice, kirsch, pepper, and herbs. It is medium to full-bodied, soft for a 2005, and best drunk over the next decade. These are all noteworthy wines and generally sell for very realistic prices, so kudos to Patrick Lesec!I can’t speak highly enough of the job that Patrick Lesec does as a negociant, putting together interesting and high quality blends of Cotes du Rhones and Chateauneuf du Papes. He seems to have a talent for finding top quality sources for old vine Grenache, and his philosophy of bringing wines up is one of minimal intervention in a reductive environment with little exposure to oxygen. That’s important, because his wines often take a few years after bottling to strut their stuff. I have been very impressed with how the wines do perform in bottle, having purchased 1998s, 2000s, and 2001s, all of which seem to come into their own at about age four or five. I also noticed that his 2005s generally showed better out of bottle than they did last year prior to bottling.A Patrick Lesec Selection; Agent for the U.S. market: Chemin des Vins, Sherborn, MA; tel. (508) 545-1532