There was no Reserve des Deux Frères made in 2004, so the 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul received all of the top grapes. Still youthful and lively, with less density and depth than the '03, it offers classic notes of garrigue, mushrooms, olives, dried spice, kirsch and blackberry. Full-bodied and concentrated, especially in the vintage, it has plenty of sweet fruit, fine tannin and a great finish. There's a lot of similarities here to the '99, and I expect it will evolve similarly.

The 2004 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee de Mon Aieul, which spends 90% of its time in tank and 10% in old barrels, has turned out even better in bottle than it performed from cask. Basically 100% Grenache in 2004, this is clearly better than the 1999, which I own and drink frequently. It exhibits a deep ruby purple color and a wonderful sweet nose of black cherry, raspberry, licorice, spice box, and roasted herbs. Voluminous for a 2004, with full body, beautiful texture, a long, heady finish, and loads of fruit, glycerin, and decent acidity, this wine should drink beautifully for 12-15+ years. There was no 2004 Reserve des Deux Freres as all of that wine was put into the Mon Aieul. Brothers Jean-Pierre and Thierry Usseglio have once again produced some of the finest Chateauneuf du Papes of the vintage, particularly in 2005. This is no small accomplishment given the fact that their 2003 cuvees were among the very finest wines of that challenging and irregular year.Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173