2018 Domaine de la Vieille Julienne, Chateauneuf du Pape, Reserve, Bottle (750ml)

JD97 "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." JD Oct 2020
While 2018 seemed to favor those with more clay soil, you’d never know that from tasting the wines from Jean-Paul Daumen, and his 2018s are unquestionably some of the finest in the vintage. The shocker was how well the Les Hauts-Lieux performed, and it’s a heavenly bottle of wine that’s every bit as good as the Reserve, although it shows a more mineral-laced, masculine style. As I’ve written in the past, there are few wines I’d rather drink than those of Vieille Julienne.

DR97 "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." MW for DR Oct 2019