The luxury cuvee, the 2005 St.-Joseph Ste.-Epine, is a brutally tannic vin de garde. It possesses plenty of depth, but also ferocious tannins combined with relatively high acidity. Interestingly, Jacques Granges told me that the total acidity of the 2005s is actually lower than in 2006, but the acids tend to show more on the palate in 2005 than they do in 2006. As I have written many times in the past, this famous estate, which muddled along in the seventies, eighties, and early nineties, was reborn when its owners, the Deutz-Roederer Champagne enterprise, brought in the super-talented Jacques Granges, and gave him carte blanche to redo the cellars and elevate the level of quality. Since his first vintage, 1997, Delas has become one of the superb purveyors of high quality Rhone wine. I have enormous admiration for what Granges has accomplished. His most recent vintages, 2005 and 2006, have been brilliant and he continues to do a superb job with the white wines Readers should also know that Delas recently purchased 37 acres of vines in Crozes-Hermitage, so they will be augmenting their production from that appellation. The bottled 2005 reds include some interesting efforts from some of the better villages in the south. The Chateauneuf du Papes and Cotes du Rhones were reviewed in issue #173 (October, 2007)Importer: Maison Marques et Domaines, Oakland, CA; tel. (510) 587-2000

Grippy and taut for now, with a wall of cocoa and toast still covering the black cherry, plum and licorice notes. The long, smoke- and dark fruit-filled finish has a nice iron note hanging in the background. Best from 2009 through 2015. 415 cases made. -JM