2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Tradition

"We like to think that we have three different personalities here," said Nicolas Boiron. "One makes the classique wine, which is balanced, accessible and typical Chateauneuf; another makes the Chante Le Merle, which gets as much whole clusters as possible [100% in 2010, by the way] and is meant to show maximum personality and perfume; and the third is for the Gloire de Mon Grand-Pere, which is the wine that is built for maximum structure and aging." Boiron, whose first vintage on his own was 2004, admits that his early efforts "were maybe too extracted and valued structure over elegance a bit much." He told me he's now looking for intensity with harmonious tannins and as much freshness as possible. With that in mind he calls 2010 "a dream year if you like energy and balance. The wines will age really well, too."