The 2009 Cotes du Rhone-Villages Rasteau Vieilles Vignes, which comes from 60-year-old Grenache vines (70%) and 30-year-old Syrah vines (30% of the blend) from the blue marl and red and yellow clay soils of the appellation. The Grenache is aged in cement tanks and the Syrah in barrels. Yields were a tiny 27 hectoliters per hectare. The wine exhibits an inky/purple color followed by notes of creosote, camphor, melted chocolate, ripe strawberry and cherry marmalade, plums, licorice and burning embers. It is a dense, fat, chewy, full-bodied Rasteau to drink over the next 10-12 years. (Not yet released) Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800

Rich and polished, with weighty blackberry and black currant paste flavors that stay fresh and driven, thanks to lots of graphite and roasted apple wood notes. Offers a long, dark, winey finish. Drink now through 2014. 300 cases imported.??–JM??Region: France / Southern Rh?ne / Rasteau Select to Add

Aromas of black fruit, liquorice, cinnamon. Intense blackberry flavour with a line of tannic acidity. Dry finish.