Mayard Chateauneuf du Pape La Crau de Ma Mere Rouge 2016 (1.5L)

96 WE / 94 WA / 93+ JD / 92 VM / 16 JR

While demure on first whiff, this bold, concentrated wine seems to amplify in richness and extract on the palate. Ripe black cherry, fig and mulberry are lavish and spicy, streaked by layers of anise, vanilla and smoke. It's an opulent but elegantly integrated wine edged by fine, densely packed tannins. The explosion of fruit should gain finesse through 2040.-- Anne Lee C. Irjima, Wine Enthusiast

Old-vine Grenache from La Crau meets Mourvèdre from Pignan in the 2016 Chateauneuf du Pape la Crau de Ma Mere—the most limited of the company's cuvées. Hints of rose petals and black tea accent raspberry and apricot fruit in this full-bodied, richly tannic but velvety wine. Give it a couple of years' cellaring and drink it over the next decade and a half. - Joe Czerwinski, Wine Advocate

The flagship is the 2016 Châteauneuf-du-Pape La Crau de Ma Mère. It’s from old vines planted in La Crau and is mostly Grenache aged all in foudre. Plums, blackberries, crushed rocks, peppery herbs and licorice notes all emerge from this ripe, sexy, powerful red. It's a little rough around the edges today, so give it a year or three in bottle, but it's a beautiful wine. Jeb Dunnuck

Shimmering ruby. Ripe cherry and raspberry aromas show very good energy and pick up floral, garrigue and spice nuances as the wine opens up. Shows very good depth and supple texture, offering appealingly sweet red fruit, lavender pastille and allspice flavors that fan out steadily on the back half. In an appealingly forward, fruit-driven style, with no rough edges. Velvety tannins lend shape to a very long, spice-tinged finish that leaves a suave floral note behind.-- Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

Shimmering ruby. Ripe cherry and raspberry aromas show very good energy and pick up floral, garrigue and spice nuances as the wine opens up. Shows very good depth and supple texture, offering appealingly sweet red fruit, lavender pastille and allspice flavors that fan out steadily on the back half. In an appealingly forward, fruit-driven style, with no rough edges. Velvety tannins lend shape to a very long, spice-tinged finish that leaves a suave floral note behind-Josh Raynolds, Vinous Media

Red cherry juice on the nose, firm tannin and bitter herbs on the finish. Needs more flesh to make this more appealing and soft. -Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson