Charming nose with cherries, cassis, dried thyme and warm spices. Medium to full body with fine tannins. Well-rounded and structured with a creamy core of cherries and currants at the center. Textured and settled in the finish. Try after 2025.

Lesec's newest project is the 2001 Vacqueyras. A blend of 75% Grenache and 25% Syrah, it exhibits a big, peppery, earthy, lavender, dried Provencal herbs, cassis, and kirsch liqueur-scented perfume. Full-bodied, explosively rich, dense, and chewy, it should be superb when released later this year. (Released later this year. )A Patrick Lesec Selection, various American importers, including Stacole Fine Wines, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (561) 998-0029, Classic Wines, Boston, MA; tel. (617) 469-5799, Fine Vines LLC, Maywood, IL; tel. (708) 343-5901, and Associated Wine Distributors, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-8048

The exceptional 1999 Vacqueyras is a 600-case cuvee fashioned from 85% old vine Grenache and 15% Syrah. Displaying notions of truffles, fruit cake, kirsch, seaweed, pepper, and assorted black fruits, it is concentrated, thick, and unctuously-textured with a lot of body, glycerin, and a fleshy, corpulent finish. A classic southern Rhone to drink over the next 7-8 years, it is a sleeper pick from this impressive portfolio. A Patrick Lesec Selection, various American importers, including Stacole Fine Wines, Boca Raton, FL; tel. (561) 998-0039, Classic Wines, Boston, MA; tel. (617) 469-5799, Fine Vines LLC, Maywood, IL; tel. (708) 343-5901, T. Edwards Wines, New York, NY; tel. (212) 233-1004, and Associated Wine Distributors, St. Helena, CA; tel. (707) 963-8048