2010 Châteauneuf-du-Pape Les Safres

It's a mistake to generalize 2011 as a weak vintage, winemaker Bruno Gaspard told me, pointing out that all of the grenache from the Clos du Caillou vineyards finished at over 16% alcohol.The key to getting that level of ripeness "was not to panic and harvest too early.The fruit wasn't completely ripe at the beginning of September but it took off after that and kept gaining sugar for almost eight weeks."Growers who harvested too early missed the benefit of the Indian summer and "it's those wines that give the vintage its reputation for lightness," Gaspard said.Yields were fairly normal here in 2011 at just under 30 hl/ha "so the wines aren't heavy at all, in spite of the high alcohol." (North Berkeley Imports, www.northberkeleyimports.com; Domaine Select Wine Estates, www.domaineselect.com)

Winemaker Bruno Gaspard averred that given the personalities of recent Chateauneuf vintages he's "an even-year guy right now: 2010, 2008, 2006 and 2004 made the sort of wines that I prefers, but I'll make an exception for 2005, which is a phenomenal vintage that still needs a lot of patience." Unlike 2009, 2007, 2003 and 2001, those even-numbered years made wines that are fine, elegant and expressive, he added. "We're on mostly sand up here and grenache is our main grape so we're more about fruit, flowers and spice than tannins and weight." As we tasted his 2009s and 2010s side by side, he made the point that "when you go from drinking a '10 back to an '09, the '09 almost always looks heavy, even when it's an elegant one." By the way, Gaspard believes that "the break point for the traditional and modern Chateauneuf eras was 2000. Before that, you mostly had wines that were firm and red-fruited, with drier tannins, more acidity and less alcohol. From 2000 on the emphasis switched to later harvests, higher sugars, lower acidity, darker fruit and higher alcohol." Vintage 2010, he added, is in the pre-2000 style but with elegant tannins. "They'll be expressive on release but they have the balance to age extremely well." The 2009s, on the other hand, "will be at their best in their first decade after bottling and may not outlive the 2008s, which I love but which are misunderstood because they aren't dramatic enough." (importers include North Berkeley Imports, Berkeley, CA and Domaine Select Wines Estates, New York, NY)