More elegant than the traditional cuvee, the 2005 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Imperiale is almost all Grenache and comes from 100-year-old vines planted in the lieux-dits of Piallon and Girardette (which are both sandy terroirs). Vinified and aged all in concrete, it offers beautiful notes of spring flowers, plum, violets, licorice and seaweed to go with a medium to full-bodied, seamless and pure texture that keeps you coming back to the glass. It’s drinking nicely now, yet is still youthful and relatively unevolved, all of which suggest it has at least another decade of longevity.