Domaine de l'Oratoire Saint-Martin Cotes du Rhone Villages Cairanne Reserve des Seigneurs, 2000

This may be my favorite vintage for this Cairanne. A previous bottle I tried a couple of years was paired against a very good Clos Saint Jean Chateauneuf du Pape. And the Cairanne, in my view, was the better wine. Cairanne generally does not age as well as Chateauneuf du Pape, though, and this bottle is probably not quite up to its sibling tasted in 2009. Still excellent though and capable of going several more years.

Deep cherry red, has turned color just a bit. Beautiful bouquet of dark cherries, flowers and black pepper. Flavors run deep. The longer it sits in the glass the better it smells and tastes. This is definitely better than the 1998 l'Oratoire Saint Martin Reserve and better than most of the vintages from the 1990s