One of the more upfront, downright sexy vintages for this cuvee, the 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul has been firing on all cylinders for about a decade now. Giving up terrific notes of spice-box, cured meats, garrigue and mature Grenache fruit, this beauty is full-bodied, rich, concentrated and mouth filling, with serious amounts of fruit and texture. Like the '99, it's fully mature, but should hold nicely, although there's no need to delay gratification. In 2000, this incorporated a new parcel of sandy soils from a site just north of Domaine de la Solitude, in the la Crau lieu-dit. This blend was 85% Grenache, the rest Syrah, Cinsault and Mourvedre raised all in foudre.

The profound 2000 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul (85% Grenache and the rest equal parts Syrah, Mourvedre, and Cinsault) tips the scales at 15% alcohol. From an old vineyard and cropped at 15 hectoliters per hectare, and aged only in foudre, it boasts a dense purple color in addition to an exquisite nose of violets, minerals, blueberries and blackberries. Pure and concentrated, but atypically tannic, it requires considerable aging as it is one of the vintage's more backward, broodingly powerful efforts. Anticipated maturity: 2006-2020. Kudos to Thierry and Jean-Pierre Usseglio, Wine Advocate wine personalities of the year in 2001!Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173