2006 Châteauneuf-du-Pape

"Two thousand seven is a lot like 2001 in the sense of its concentration and sweetness, but the tannins are more enrobed so the fruit will come forward sooner," Thierry Usseglio told me. "They're like Catherine Deneuve, with great elegance but very sexy. " Two thousand six, on the other hand, is about almost immediate pleasure: "easy to drink when young, balanced, with lots of fruit and supple tannins. But they will go for 10 to 15 years with no problem. " Usseglio told me that he finds his 2004s a bit austere right now and advises against opening them for another few years. "But that's me," he added, "and I tend to be extremely critical of my own wines. "

Thierry Usseglio told me that 2006 was not a "smooth" vintage. "It was very hot-too hot-in July but things got better and better toward the end," he explained. "August was great: nice and cool at night. It was a vintage where careful elevage was necessary to preserve the freshness of the wines." The 2005 growing season, on the other hand, "was a breeze, great from the beginning and straight through the harvest-a natural. There is more structure than in 2006, but '06 has good structure too, and more finesse." He advises holding off on his 2005s and digging into the 2006s first, but adds that, for the Deux Freres, "you must always wait at least ten years."