2018 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Le Grand Pin

Importer Peter Weygandt and Baptiste Grangeon of Domaine Cristia launched this small project with the 2009 vintage. Today it is one of the great insider producers in the southern Rhône. The wines are made entirely from sandy-soil-grown Grenache, much of it from vines that are over a century old, with whole clusters and aging in neutral oak casks. These silken-textured wines are exotically perfumed and rich, yet energetic in character, and show just how elegant Châteauneuf-du-Pape can be, even in riper vintages. The 2017s and 2018s are more forward than the 2016s and 2015s and will likely drink younger than their older siblings; although, there’s no hurry.