Proprietor Jean-Luc Mayard's wines often taste better out of bottle than they do from cask. This property's 1993 white Chateauneuf du Pape is made in the same style as so many of the neutral, insipid white Chateauneufs. A straightforward, medium-bodied, uninteresting wine, it should be drunk soon. It is puzzling why this appellation, which can produce so many hedonistic, decadent, compelling red wines, produces so few outstanding white wines. Importer: New Castle Imports, Myrtle Beach, SC; Tel. (803) 497-8625

I was disappointed in proprietor Jean-Luc Mayard's stripped, thin, high acid 1991 white Chateauneuf du Pape. It possesses no real substance or charm. No known American importer.