2009 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Sanctus Santorum

"Two thousand eight is definitely in the style of 2006 and 2004," according to the Maurel brothers, who have extensive holdings of old vines in some of the primo sites of Chateauneuf, notably in La Crau. They told me that they harvested late in 2008 and that their well-drained vineyards allowed the vines to escape the dangers caused by early September rains, which enabled the Maurels to make their full range of wines, except for the ultra-luxury Sanctus Sanctorum. Production is very low for the 2008s because of severely diminished yields "but the wines are distinct enough and typical enough that we wanted to keep them apart rather than make a single wine."