The 2004 Cotes du Rhone Cuvee Antique is peppery, spicy, and meaty, medium-bodied, and best drunk over the next couple of years.
Another young Turk of Chateauneuf du Pape making waves and raising the overall level of quality is Charles Bravay, who has created a name for this domaine over the last decade or more. These are traditionally made Chateauneuf du Papes with loads of character and oozing with Provencal typicity. If you don’t like pepper, kirsch, roasted herbs, and meatiness in your wines, stay far clear of these, which offer those characteristics in spades. One of the better values is again their Cotes du Rhones, and both 2004s are competent although not up to the level of their 2005s.
Importer: Peter Weygandt, Weygandt-Metzler, Unionville, PA; tel. (610) 486-0800