Domaine du Pegau Cuvee Reservee Chateauneuf du Pape, 1989

I tasted this wine from the barrel with the winemaker, Laurence Feraud, on a trip to the Rhone in the early 1990s. It has always been one of my all-time favorite wines...and still is.

Dark brickish color. Lots of sediment at bottom of bottle. Powerful, savory bouquet of Provencal herbs, dark fruit, leather and Chateauneuf earth. A broad shouldered wine, full bodied and ripe on the mid-palate. Fresh and dried fruit, darker than I would expect from a wine that is 80 to 85% Grenache. Tastes sweet but has the acid to keep it fresh and lively. Improves with about an hour of airing and then holds steadily through the meal. It was a perfect match for herb-crusted rack of lamb.