2003 Chateauneuf-du-Pape

This was an eye-opening tasting, as usual-and a good thing, as anything less than open eyes could result in calamity in Bonneau's rabbit warren of a cellar, with its ladders, tight stairwells and hidden drop-offs. It's not easy to get a handle on exactly what is going to wind up in the bottle here. For example, 2003 will likely see a single bottling, even though last year it appeared that the plan was to release both a Marie Beurrier and a Reserve des Celestins. We'll know the final decision some time next spring. Incidentally, during my visit this fall Bonneau made it clear that he was up to speed on current market pricing and the cult status of his wines, and that he is both amused and perplexed by the attention and prices his wines have been commanding for the past decade and a half.