Vieille Julienne CdP Reserve 2018 (750ML)

97 JD / 97 DE / 96 VM / 95 WS / 17.5 + JR

The 2018 Châteauneuf Du Pape Reserve comes from a single terroir (which is closest to the Les Trois Sources terroir) and is always a tiny production cuvée that’s just about impossible to find in the market. The 2018 shows the more elegant, seamless style of the vintage beautifully and has a gorgeous bouquet of cassis, blueberries, crushed violets, smoked game, ground pepper, and black licorice. This carries to a seamless, full-bodied wine that has no hard edges, flawless balance, and silky tannins, as well as a great finish. This is just about as good as 2018 gets and is a singular, gorgeous wine that’s going to evolve gracefully for 15+ years or more.-Jeb Dunnuck

This is deeper in colour than the other cuvees, marginally. It’s exuberantly fruity with plum, prune and blackberry all in coulis. It's full-bodied, but not exaggeratingly so with mouthcoating fruit, and not quite as flamboyant as previous years - there's a little cool straightness to it. Despite the extremities of 2018, this is a relatively restrained vintage for this cuvee, and in that respect it's not a totally classic year. But it's all the more drinkable for it, with less noticeable alcohol than other hot years. This will be really exceptional in time. It has real texture, mineral drive and a very, very long finish. Finesse, elegance and drinkability in 2018. Biodynamic.-Matt Walls, Decanter

Inky ruby. Expansive red and dark berry preserve, licorice and potpourri aromas are complemented by an exotic spice flourish and a suggestion of smoky minerality. Broad and fleshy in the mouth, offering deeply concentrated black raspberry, boysenberry and cherry cola flavors, along with five-spice powder and candied lavender nuances. Slowly firms up with air and shows superb clarity, building tannins and outstanding, floraldriven persistence on the finish.-Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

Gorgeous flavors of raspberry, boysenberry and blackberry pâte de fruit meld together with warmed fruitcake, anise and red tea notes in this red, which is understated stylistically. There’s a subtle signed alder frame that guides the flavors through the focused finish, where fine chalky minerality lingers prettily. Best from 2024 through 2038. 250 cases made, 50 cases imported.-James Molesworth, Wine Spectator

Tank sample. Jammy fruit, but not in a pejorative sense: this has beautiful clarity and density, with a very firm although supple structure. Not quite as persistent as previous vintages, perhaps, but that fruit is impeccable, pristine, crystalline. Lovely peppery note on the finish. -Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson