The opaque purple-colored 1997 La Quintessence is a prodigious Cotes du Ventoux. It possesses a gorgeous nose of creme de cassis, smoke, subtle notes of freshly ground pepper, and dried herbs. Full-bodied and astonishingly rich for a wine of its price, this multilayered, unctuously-textured effort admirably conceals the 100% new oak casks in which it was aged. Drink it over the next decade. This is a wine to buy by the case! Importer: Eric Solomon, European Cellars, New York, NY; tel. (212) 924-4949