E. Guigal Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge 2018

E. Guigal Châteauneuf-du-Pape Rouge is a southern Rhône red built on Grenache with Syrah, Mourvèdre and others, made by the Ampuis house founded in 1946 and now run by Philippe Guigal. The vines average around fifty years and grow in red clay scattered with galets roulés, the large rolled stones that store the day's heat and release it overnight, ripening Grenache fully and lending the wine its warmth and depth. The hot, dry Mediterranean climate and the wind-swept site concentrate the fruit, while the older vines give low yields and structure. The 2018 was a generous vintage. The wine ages twenty-four months in French oak, the long élevage and slow oxygen exchange resolving the tannins and folding the fruit into wood spice and savoury, leather-edged complexity. The colour is a deep red. The nose offers ripe plum, red berries, black pepper, liquorice and dried garrigue herbs, with leather emerging. The palate is full and warm, generous in fruit, the tannins ripe and the 14.5 percent alcohol carried by the structure into a long, spiced finish. Serve at 17 to 18 degrees and decant an hour ahead. Good with roast lamb, beef stew or game.