A traditional, rock solid effort that will delight lovers of mature, traditionally made Chateauneuf du Pape, the 2003 Domaine de la Cote de l'Ange Vieilles Vignes delivers a classical array of sweet red and black fruits, garrigue, licorice, cured meats and saddle leather. Smelling like a Provencal street market, it fleshes out on the palate and has a medium to full-bodied, seamless, elegant texture, a core of sweet fruit and a great finish. Drinking at point, it should hold for another 3-4 years and then have a graceful evolution past maturity. This bottle didn’t really start to shine until an hour after opening, so don’t be afraid to open bottles ahead of time.

The outstanding 2003 Chateauneuf du Pape Cuvee Vieilles Vignes is structured but dense, with a dark garnet/plum color and a sweet nose of licorice, smoked herbs, roasted meats, and plenty of cherry and currant, the wine is muscular, moderately tannic, but has the depth of fruit and flesh to balance out the structure. Give it 1-2 years of bottle age and drink it over the following 12-14 years.Importer: Alain Junguenet, Wines of France, Mountainside, NJ; tel. (908) 654-6173

Tradition relates that an angel rested briefly on the slopes of the vineyard owned now by Monique Mestre and Yannick Gasparri. The wine from these 80-year-old vines certainly has a heavenly length to it, full of hugely ripe Grenache which bursts out of the glass. There are also big, tough tannins which promise long aging. ——R.V.(12/31/2005)—— 93