2006 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Chaupin

I missed Christophe Sabon this year as he was at the doctor's office, having his shoulder treated for a nasty fall taken on one of his numerous hunting trips. His sister Isabelle spoke about the current market as she walked me through the wines. On the subject of high-octane wines, she told me that "people like the labels to say 13% but they really want the wines to be 16. 5%, which they are. " (That is perfectly legal, by the way. ) "As long as the wine is balanced, I don't know why people are so concerned, aside from the driving issue, which is a genuine problem. " Sabon believes that 2006 will turn out a lot like 1999, "with excellent finesse," while she describes 2007 as "very serious, with lots of alcohol and in need of cellaring. " She told me that the fermentations went very slowly in 2007, which resulted in serious flavor intensity. One lot of the Vieilles Vignes finished at 17. 7% alcohol.

"Two thousand five reminds me a lot of 2001 right now," Christophe Sabon told me. "The wines have great power and structure but also excellent fruit. They will be for the cellar." Sabon attended school in Beaune and the Burgundian influence seems to have rubbed off on his wines: although rich and deeply flavored, they are also vividly fruity, with supple textures and polished tannins. "Of course, our wines will always be rich-this is Chateauneuf, after all-but I don't want them to be monsters," he added. This is a large property, with 55 hectares of vines, about 15 of them in Chateauneuf. Perhaps of interest to those holding older vintages, a 2003 straight Chateauneuf was impressively fresh and sweet, with vibrant red berry fruit and a long, smoky finish. And a bottle of 1999 Chateauneuf Vieilles Vignes was packed with blueberry, cassis and black truffle flavors, and finished with youthfully chewy tannic grip and wonderful length. I wouldn't be in a rush to open either of them.