2005 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Réservée

Laurence Feraud expresses a different view than most of her colleagues, calling 2005 a winemaker's vintage while describing 2006 as "natural, with clean, fresh fruit and spice-almost Burgundian. Two thousand five started out as all red fruit and 2006 began black and purple, and they both changed completely, coming out with exactly the opposite personalities." She continues to have a soft spot for her 2004, which she says "has the most wonderful spicy character." Feraud told me that there will definitely be a Capo in 2007 and showed me a cask sample of the designated wine, which was way too young to even begin to assess. Incidentally, Laurence and her father Paul playfully argue about what accent mark, if any, the domain name should include, as well as about how the estate should be pronounced. (Hand Picked Selections, Warrenton, VA; J et R Selections, Mt. Pleasant, MI; Martine's Wines, Novato, CA)

"Two thousand four is really my style," Laurence Feraud told me in November. "I like the vibrancy, clarity and balance of the vintage. It reminds me of 2001, which I also adore. "As to 2005, Feraud describes it as "all about fruit, red and black. The wine is very fresh and expressive. "The frenzied pursuit by wine collectors of this estate's Da Capo bottling has clearly gotten to Feraud, who has made the decision not to bottle either a 2004 or 2005 version of this super-cuvee-this despite the fact that both vintages are clearly of a quality to warrant it. Her experience dealing with obsessive trophy-hunters chasing her 2003 Capo has clearly weirded her out. "I had people who I've done business with for years, people who I considered friends, saying the most incredibly mean things when they couldn't get more of it," she said. She then regaled me with hair-raising stories of customers who seem incapable of comprehending "non. ""What is it about these people?" she asked. (Hand-Picked Selections, Warrenton, VA; J et R Selections, Mt. Pleasant, MI; Martine's Wines, Novato, CA)