2013 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Cuvée Tradition

Nicolas Boiron's style of winemaking continues to evolve further away from that of the past here, and the resulting wines are now decidedly in the elegant style of Châteauneuf, offering bright, expressive fruit and floral character and fine-grained, harmonious tannins. Thanks to the wines’ freshness and energy, I continually find myself pleasantly surprised at their alcohol levels, which are in fact in the typical 15%-ish range of the region. The old-vines A La Gloire de Mon Grand-Père bottling wasn't made in 2013 or 2014 because of the short Grenache crop but it "will definitely be made in 2015," Nicolas told me.

Nicolas Boiron's wines have become more fruit-driven and polished in recent vintages. They no longer show the somewhat rustic edge of the wines made at this estate in the 1990s but they still retain classic southern Rhône character. The influence of Philippe Cambie's consulting on this estate cannot be underestimated or underappreciated as the wines are now, for me, often in the top rank of Châteauneufs on a regular basis. In the past stern, drying tannins frequently blocked fruit expression and required extended cellaring to loosen up. Indeed, a recent bottle of the 1998 Cuvée Tradition was still pretty unyielding (not necessarily a bad thing given how many '98s have gone loose, stewy and hot by now), while more recent vintages are leading with their fruit, but not at the expense of structure.